Savior or Fallen?
by The Final Conduit
Summary: An interactive fanfiction. Layfon Alseif had always been described as an overall good person as well as an incredible warrior. But ever since the day he'd fused with the Fallen One, Layfon really wasn't sure about himself anymore... Pairings to be decided.
1. Universal Warp

Layfon Alseif fell to his knees, sweat mixing with the blood that trailed down the side of his face and caked his tea brown colored hair, breathing heavily, almost wheezing even, for breath, the clear blue sky having a green aurora in it.

"Come on. I thought you'd put up more of a fight than THIS." The cocky voice of his unexpected opponent, Savalis Leukens, who's white hair reached the middle of his upper back, and also covering one of his two blue eyes via a hair bang.

"Damn it..." Layfon cursed under his breath, narrowing his blue eyes in a deep scowl.

The Fallen One, a being resembling a golden goat, had entered his enemy's body.

Anyone who gained a Fallen One into their bodies would in turn gain a tremondous amount of kei (a type of energy people used in combat).

Before, the Fallen One had entered Nina Antalk, a blonde haired, blue eyed girl who was a couple of years older than him and also was his platoon captain.

The end result was her becoming possessed by the Fallen One and attacking him.

Though he barely stopped her suicidal rampage, he'd been attacked by Savalis, who forced the Fallen One out of her and into himself.

Nina was severely injured, so she'd been sent back to the city.

But when Savalis attacked him, Layfon had been forced to fight, as both knew of Layfon's power as a former Heaven's Blade (one of 12 of the strongest Miltary Artists, people who use Kei to fight beings known as either Contaminoids or Filth Monsters, from Glendan, Layfon's home city).

As Savalis himself was a Heaven's Blade, it was almost a given he'd try to test his powers out on Layfon.

It was almost indstinct for Heaven's Blades to want more power and skill.

But, as this lead to his own current position, Layfon, in spite of his typically kind and patient nature, somewhat felt like he was, for lack of a shorter term, screwed.

With his Dite (weapons used by Military Artists) destroyed in his fight with Nina, and with no alternative weapons at his disposal, the only thing he could do was-

"Internal Type Kei - Whirlwind!" Layfon flew out of Savalis' range of aim, as he had used a full on blast of crimson Kei at him.

"Why do you keep running? Aren't you going to fight Layfon?" Savalis spoke loud enough so he could hear.

He was just toying with him, and Layfon knew it as he landed back on the ground.

"Shouldn't you be using your power to fight the Elder Filth Monsters?!" Layfon yelled at him as he ran, a strategic way of running at a constant radius of his opponent that'd become reflex to him, trying to see the best timd to strike, even if it was only with his fists.

"Exactly why I have to finish you. Because I've got a hell of a lot of bigger bugs to fry." Savalis responded, and Layfon skidded to a stop as he used a Kei blast at him, right where he would've been had he kept running.

The attack left an array of boulders collapsing to the ground.

With his speed faltered greatly by the attack, Layfon couldn't move in time when Savalis launched another blast right at him.

Without much time to react, Layfon was left with no choice but to use a defensive move he'd learn from the Heaven's Blade, Reverse.

"Kongoukei!" He focused the move to his abdomen, and he barely conjured it before the attack hit home.

But as Layfon hadn't properly learned this type of attack, only observed and copied, he wasn't able to completely avert the attack.

His feet made dual trails as it dragged him back, Layfon standing his ground.

But next moment, his back was set on fire as pain racked into him.

He looked behind himself, realizing then that Savalis had used the Fleeting Shadow ability to clone himself.

His distraction made his makeshift shield dissipate, and Layfon found himself being hit on both sides.

He screamed in pain, caught completely in it.

When it ended, Layfon still stood on his feet, looking right at Savalis from across the barren field of a wasteland.

Savalis smirked at him, Layfon's body swaying before crumpling to the ground, body with wounds all over him, his all black military uniform in shreds.

He breathed deeply, but steadily.

His vision was becoming hazy...

"I guess that's the best you've got. Oh well, I guess it was fun while it lasted." Layfon heard Savalis speak, but only barely.

Damn it...

Layfon pumped his kei within himself, then pushed himself back up, his Kei the only thing keeping him up.

"I see you'd like to die on your feet. I'm fine with that. It's about time we finished this."

Savalis charged his Kei in his palm, then released it all in a single blast.

Layfon scowled, but sighed then, knowing he couldn't beat him even if he tried.

Savalis was just too powerful.

Because of that, he opened his eyes, saying a silent goodbye to all of his friends, narrowing his blue eyes as he braced himself for death-

A golden light slashed through the air, blinding Layfon just when the Kei blast should've killed him.

He stared in shock, then realized what the golden light was.

A sword with gold highlights all over it, with a very sturdy metal bound to it.

His Heaven's Blade Dite...!

He took the hilt of the blade, feeling it absorbing Savalis' Kei like a conductive metal to electricity.

Layfon twisted the blade down towards the ground at his side, then grunted as he pulled it back up with all his strength, slashing through the air and knocking Savalis' Kei right back at him.

The blast hit home, and Savalis was sent flying through the air.

But Layfon wasn't finished.

Internal Type Kei - Whirlwind!

A blue circle of wind came around him, and he blasted off at his enemy.

"Savalis!" He roared, his Heaven's Blade glowing with blue energy, as he neared the white haired man in the sky.

Savalis' eyes widened, right before Layfon charged his Kei, bringing his sword above his head, then slamming it down at his shoulder.

Savalis roared out in agony as the blade cut through his body, making him fall back to the ground, plummeting, crashing painfully on the ground.

Layfon fell with him, but landed on his feet, breathing heavily while using his Heaven's Blade as a support.

Then he froze at the ancient yet powerful voice that boomed behind him.

"My body has become dust, and has lost all purpose." He looked behind himself, seeing a golden goat floating in the air behind him.

The Fallen One.

"But now, the spirit of hatred drives me to wish to become the flame of change. I see in you the potential to the lord I seek. Come now, and grasp me, you who desires the flame." It sent out rippling waves of what Layfon thought was its Kei, and like the first time he met face to face with it (which still brought bad memories) the former Heaven's Blade weilder was literally frozen to the spot, unable to move.

"I... I don't want...!" Unlike last time however, he had no strength to stop the Fallen One from doing as it wished with him.

It flew right through his body, and Layfon lost the ability to breathe for a moment, falling to the ground and onto his knees as blue and golden orbs circled him in the air.

Then an explosion of Kei ripped through his body, making him arch his back as a beam of crimsom Kei emitted from his body and into the sky, his screams piercing a person's ear from miles away.

The orbs spun at an unbelievable pace in an endless orbit around him, and then they all entered his body at once.

Layfon's eyes widened as he felt this.

Then he screamed again as the aurora grew brighter out of nowhere.

And finally, it exploded, creating a light so bright that Layfon was unable to look.

But he wouldn't know what had happened until later.

For, the boy had been knocked out.

* * *

Jaune Arc walked, dark blue eyes reflecting his exhaustion as he walked beside the 15 year old girl, her black hair with claret highlights the thing his eyes were paying the most attention to, the lights of the stores and street lights keeping their surroundings alit as they walked.

"Thanks again for your help Jaune!" Ruby Rose spoke to him, silver eyes reflecting happiness as they walked back to Beacon, "But... are you sure you don't want me you with the bags?"

"Ah, no I'll be alright Ruby!" Jaune lied, faking a smile of content.

He'd accompanied her to the store, mainly to buy stuff for what Jaune thought was a party, though gravity was making the bags pull down on his skin, making the carrying process all but an ordeal for him.

But the problem was, Jaune didn't know who the "guest of honor" was going to be.

He wanted to ask, but he was scared to.

After all, for all he knew, it could probably even be Ruby herself.

And he didn't want to create an awkward situation with the first person he'd bonded with since coming to Beacon.

She was like the interchangeably younger and physically ironic older sibling to him depending on the situation and vice versa.

Jaune knew that he didn't want to do anything to make that bond be disrupted at all.

He really didn't think ANYONE would want that to happen to them.

"Hey Jaune... what do you think the guest of honor would like tomorrow?"

Jaune's eyes snapped up.

He wasn't sure what to say.

Who was this freaking "guest of honor"?!

"Hmmmm... Maybe you should ask her without her realizing what you're asking about." He said with a smile.

He'd decided to go with the assumption that the "guest of honor" was a female.

Most of her friends were females anyways, with him and Lie Ren as possibly the sole exceptions.

Ruby seemed to be taken aback by that answer, but she composed herself visibly.

"That's true. I should ask the "guest of honor" ASAP." Ruby said with a thoughtful expression.

"You go ahead and do that." Jaune smiled.

Good, it seemed like he was in the clear...

"I wonder how old the "guest of honor" will be turning tomorrow. Do you know Jaune?" Ruby asked, silver eyes questioning.

"Hm? How old - ah! - I mean right! I wonder how old she'll be turning!" Jaune quickly and abruptly stopped himself from blowing what he believed was his cover.

He couldn't ruin himself now - he'd already put himself too deep!

He mentally cursed, though he kept smiling physically.

It was obviously someone's birthday tomorrow.

But Jaune didn't think anyone's birthday was even close!

He cursed again.

Think darn it, THINK...!

Ruby stared at Jaune, then asked him up front, "Really? I thought you of all people would know how old their turning."

"I know who the "guest of honor" is... do YOU know who the guest of honor is?"

He panicked at the sentence that she said next.

"I do. But could you tell me who it is just so I can be sure?" She smiled, lightly rubbing her hair sheepishly.

Okay, Jaune thought, his mind going into desperate overdrive to find the answer he sought out so badly. She just said I should more than anyone. So obviously someone I spend a lot of time with... my teammates? Yeah, them most likely. So Nora or Phyrra... well... Nora never really says anything about that kind of stuff... except with Ren maybe... but that's not important. Besides, she'd probably be bouncing off the walls in happiness the week that was happening...

Jaune gained an exasperated expression then, the very thought enough to give him a good deal of dread.

He was truly scared in that moment...

Agh-! He was getting off track!

So since Nora wasn't an option, that obviously only left...

Jaune's eyes lit up, determined that he'd finally gotten the answer.

It was Phyrra!

Now reassured with this realization, mentally screaming in delight to the heavens, Jaune smiled at Ruby, "I'm sure Phyrra will be turning 18."

As soon as those words escaped his lips, Jaune suddenly felt like slapping himself in the face.

Practically EVERYONE in Beacon Ruby knew was 17!

Heck, Ruby was the sole exception when it came to 17+ age group for the entire student body!

Jaune mentally sighed.

Think before you speak Jaune, he spoke to himself, think...

Ruby was staring at him, before she burst out laughing, so hard some people stared as they passed.

Jaune gained a strange look himself when he heard her.

It took a few moments for her to calm down, and even as she spoke, there was a hint of laughter in her voice, "Jaune, do you even know who's birthday it is tomorrow?"

"..." The boy sighed in defeat, "Ok, no... who's is it?"

"It's yours!" Ruby yelled in a loud voice.

Jaune became stiff as stone at that statement.

His own birthday... who'd have thought that he of all people, would forget his own BIRTHDAY...

Jaune sighed to himself.

"I guess those hours of training with Phyrra every night is taking more of a toll on me than I thought..." Jaune said aloud.

Ruby looked at him, "Oh really? Well, at least you're using your free time to get stronger. I bet you'll become a girl magnet in no time!" Ruby said supportively, giving him a thumbs up.

Jaune smiled, "Thanks Ruby. I'm glad I-"

What he was glad for, the world would never know.

A sudden earthquake shook the ground, and it was so violent that Jaune almost lost his balance.

But he steadied himself, looking with Ruby as they heard the sudden sounds of explosions filling the air.

"What the - ?!" Jaune screamed in surprise when he saw a monster who he assumed was a creature of Grimm (while being unlike any he'd ever encountered in the past).

It flew over their heads, a gust of powerful wind blowing in their and many other people's faces.

"What the heck?!" Ruby yelled, the shock of the Grimm's sudden appearance still setting in.

"We've gotta tell the others. I'll get everyone together."

"I'll try to hold it off!" Ruby responded, pulling her weapon out - a crimson scythe with a type of rifle mixed with it - and aiming the blade side towards the ground, blasting up into the air.

She landed on the top of a roof top, and using her speed, she was soon on the Grimm's tail.

Jaune also was about to follow her, but took out his scroll, writing his and Ruby's teammates, as well as Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.

'There's a Grimm in Vale Port! Get here ASAP!' Jaune's message read as he sent it.

The bags he'd been carrying were left abandoned as he began to run after Ruby.

But then several flashes of light streaked past his eyes, and before Jaune knew it, the roars of the Grimm pierced the night.

He looked, some misguided attacks leaving explosions filling the sky, most of the others flickering the Grimm's bug like body.

Behind him, he heard another roar coming from the docks.

As he turned to look behind himself, Jaune could clearly hear another roar emitting from that area again.

He scowled in indecision, but then, seeing that the first Grimm was already being well taken care of by the eleven flashes, chose the other route, as he had no problem believing Ruby was safe.

With that, he dashed towards the docks.

* * *

Layfon was woken by a feeling of weightlessness that didn't belong.

Or at least that was the start.

Soon, as he fell, wind whipped at his face, and he barely conjured the energy to open his eyes before he realized his position.

When the realization came to his mind, his eyes went wide.

But, purely by reflex, he reached for his Dite, "Restoration - 02 - ?!"

He looked at his Dite holster, then remembered the events that had recently transpired.

Remembering his Heaven's Blade, Layfon's eyes skimmed his surroundings, settling on the gracefully crafted blade that spun as it fell.

He used Kei Whirlwind to push himself towards it, and grasped it tightly, before spinning through the air, slashing the air and landing harshly on the ground, falling down on his knees in pain after making the land.

The former Heaven's Blade weilder groaned after a moment, then slowly rose back on his feet, breathing deeply as he looked back up at the sky.

His eyes grew wide as he saw the 3 regios, Zuellni, Myath, and Glendan, that fell above him, their immense size giving him no thoughts on how dangerous it was to be under them.

Before he could gain his bearings on the situation however, a roar pierced his ears and a powerful gust of wind rammed right into him, making him stumble back.

After the gust passed, Layfon looked behind himself and saw the Elder Contaminoid flying away.

His eyes went wide, but then looked between that direction and the 3 regios that were falling.

The regios were still very high in the sky, but with the speed that they were falling, they'd be due to causing massive damage to the numerous buildings around him.

He looked around himself, noticing the large mass of water that were near wooden structures he'd yet to ever see before.

He could try to find a way to push the regios into the docks.

Sure, most people might end up getting wet when they tried to leave (as the air was breathable out here) but he'd have difficulty doing that without his steel threads.

Unless...

Layfon looked at Glendan, thinking that if his mentor in the use of steel threads were there, Lintence, then he could borrow his weapon for that purpose of depleting the damage done to the city.

But with the Contaminoid flying around, there was no telling how much damage it'd cause if not attended to as soon as possible.

He doubted that he could defeat it himself, but with his Heaven's Blade, he'd be sure to be of SOME effect.

At least until help arrived.

But he couldn't do both...!

"Damn..." He cursed under his breath.

In that moment, Layfon made his choice.

* * *

A/N: Here's the first chapter of my interactive fanfiction.

Basically, the person reading this may choose how one of the main protagonists, Layfon, progresses in life with the Fallen One inside of him.

This is meant to be a sequel to my other CSR fanfiction, "Awaiting the Unexpected".

But, you don't need to read that to understand this.

So, I'll give you the two choices displayed here. The votes I get for them will help change the course of the story.

So vote more and you'll read more basically.

Choice 1: Try to find Lintence, and decrease the amount of damage to the Regios.

Choice 2: Fight the Contaminoid and hold it off as much as possible


	2. Fallen: Fighting The Contaminoid

Layfon scowled, then turned to the direction of the Contaminoid, clenching his fists.

No matter the amount of damage to the Regios, if the Contaminoid wasn't to be stopped as soon as possible, then Layfon didn't even know how much damage it'd cause.

He arranged his footing, left foot in front of his right, gaze aiming sharply down the street, as he charged his kei into himself.

External Type Kei - Flash!

Layfon felt a surge of energy and light cover his body, and he clenched his teeth, leaning backwards slightly, biting back the pain, and flew forward, going up into the air, his body like a shooting star as it streaked up into the sky, the distance between the Contaminoid and himself dropping rapidly.

Soon, he was over the Contaminoid, and he stopped his kei attack, the light emitting from him disappearing from him.

He concentrated his kei into his Heaven's Blade, narrowing his eyes, before slicing through the air, a wave of kei being unleashed upon the Contaminoid, its bug like body swaying horribly as it rammed into it, green blood spraying out of its new wound.

Layfon used his Flash ability to plummet himself down at the Contaminoid, at a speed that surpassed even bullets, roaring as he went, wrapping his hands tightly around his Heaven's Blade, pulling it around and aiming the tip of the blade at the Contaminoid's wound, the hilt moving towards his left shoulder, body turned to his side while in the air.

As he made collision with the monster, it turned out the inertia of Layfon hitting it alone made it lose some altitude.

That was nothing to say of how much pain it seemed to be in as Layfon plunged his sword into its still open wound.

Layfon knew that what he was doing was a better way of dealing with the Contaminoid.

Unlike most Contaminoids, who were usually much smaller in size, Layfon could tell both from observation and experience that this type of Contaminoid never attacked from its blind spot.

And this was precisely why Layfon kept his blade plunged into the Contaminoid's back, running along its back and adding onto its wounds as he ripped the Contaminoid's outer shell.

Once he reached its head, Layfon stopped, pulling his sword past his side while it was still pressing into the Contaminoid, sliced through its neck, Layfon not caring that both he and his sword were covered in its blood.

He lifted the Heaven's Blade over his head, then slammed it down on his forehead, breaking into its skull.

It spun in the air, and to Layfon's surprise, so much so that he was forced to fall down through air.

The Contaminoid flew away, and then turned, flying right at him.

He scowled while upside down in the air, then breathed in deeply and sharply as he saw its mouth open, red eyes popping out in amazing numbers, knowing this was a sign that it was about to attack.

External Type Kei - Kei Roar!

He released his breath against the Contaminoid, out in all of one roar, just as several beams were blasted right at him.

The two powers met, yet Layfon's own attack proved to be much too thin in comparison to the Contaminoid's, for more beams were sent right at him.

His Kei Roar only proved to act as a barrier in itself, and after Layfon was hit with the beams, his concentration faltered, for upon making contact, it blew up.

Layfon's body was thrown through the air like a rag doll as he was flying away, landing completely injured on one building, his bearings completely gone.

He breathed heavily, then looked back at the harbor as the ground rumbled.

The regios were all in the ocean.

Layfon breathed a small sigh of relief.

It seemed Lintence was thinking along the lines of his mind...

He struggled to get back up, only to see 11 different flashes all going towards the Contaminoid.

Upon looking closer, Layfon saw that 10 were people he recognized, and he felt a larger wave of relief come over him.

The Heaven's Blades!

But the 11th one he didn't recognize.

A man with red hair and a green jacket, with a green looking kei about him.

Layfon couldn't say he had ever seen him before...

"Hey, are you alright?" A yell came front behind him, and Layfon suddenly felt a shaking on his back.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw a girl who looked to be around his age, hair black over all with some red in most of her locks.

"Yeah..." Layfon said, and she pushed her head under his arm his right arm, wrapping her left arm around his left side, pulling him up.

"What the heck is that thing?" She spoke to him, silver eyes tense with fearful curiosity, "I've never even seen or heard of a Grimm like that..."

Grimm?

"What are - !" Layfon coughed, not being able to hold himself in.

He lifted a messy gloved hand over his mouth, coughing deeply into it.

When he removed his hand, he saw that he'd coughed up blood.

"Oh my God, we need to get you some help." She said, using all her strength, lifting him up.

"I'll... I'll be fine..." Layfon tried to reassure her, but she was having none of it.

And so he could only watch as the 11 fighters battled with the Contaminoid, as the girl carried him away.

Once they'd reached the ground, they walked through the back entrance, going through alleyways.

With the roars and crashes that followed suit, to the girl, she commented on how it made her think of a war zone.

She kept talking quietly, and whether Layfon was expected to answer or not, he didn't know until she looked at him, "How are you holding up right now?"

"I'm okay. I think I can walk by myself right now." Layfon lied.

He had to get back to the Regios, to check that everyone was okay.

He couldn't do that when this girl was practically carrying him further and further away from the harbor.

"You look like you got messed up enough. Try to rest up right now, help is close by."

"I can't focus on me right now..." Layfon grunted, "I need to make sure they're okay...!" He coughed in a gut wrenching way again.

"What's the point in doing that as you are right now?" She looked at him, "You'll only be making them all worry."

Layfon actually looked down at himself then, and gave no response.

She was right; he'd only be making Nina and everyone else worry if he went back to them the way he was now.

So he was silent as she continued to carry him, until they reached the closest ambulance, and for the first time, Layfon willingly let himself rest instead of going straight to help eliminate the first threat to his loved ones safety.

Layfon lay down on the stretcher, and he sighed, settling into it.

"You're in good hands now. I have to go now. Get some rest big guy." The girl said, Layfon barely noticing the optimistic smile creasing her face, "See you."

She left then, running out of the ambulance, and Layfon found himself sighing miserably.

Saying he couldn't sleep would be an understatement for him.

No matter how far away the ambulance took him, Layfon couldn't get the image of the Contaminoid out of his mind.

He sighed again a few minutes later, having been put in a wheelchair, and he watched over the sky as he was searching for the signs of a battle happening, the hospital rather dim in light, especially now that it was in its after visiting hours part of the day.

He got nothing as a response.

Sighing softly, Layfon turned around in his wheelchair with a way that revealed how often he'd been put in this position.

And compared to the average person - especially 15 year olds like him - Layfon would be considered either a hardy human being or simply a person with a very bad relationship with Lady Luck.

As he reentered his room, Layfon rolled in front of a mirror after turning the light back on in the dark room, he pushed himself forward, only to stop when he was passing a mirror, looking back at it after a moment of silence.

Rolling himself back in front of the mirror, Layfon could only stare for a very long time.

"What the...?" He said to himself aloud.

He looked at his appearance, generally cleaned up savor a few bandages, and realized how he'd changed.

His hair, once a tea colored brown, was now an oynx black, eyes that were once azure blue, now a bright gold (Layfon also noted how pale his skin was, but decided to leace that to how much blood he'd lost in the recent hours).

_"Layfon?"_ He suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him, and turning, he saw a bright pink sakura petal spinning in the air next to him, unaware of the uncertainty behind the voice emitting from it, for it gave no emotion.

"Felli? Is that you?" Layfon asked, turning to it.

A voice from the petal sighed, _"Thank goodness. I thought you were dead after a while."_

He smiled a weak sheepish smile, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you worry."

_"You're starting to make it a habit to do that. Don't do that again Fon-Fon." _Felli spoke to him in a cold tone, though he felt a bit at ease when she called him by her forced nickname for him.

_"I'll tell the others of where you are. Just wait."_ Felli said, and the sakura petal flew away, out of the room, and out of Layfon's sight.

With yet another sigh, Layfon smiled.

Seems like everyone was fine after all...

* * *

A/N: As there was a tie for each of the choices last chapter, I decided to simply start writing both of the choices and their effects.

I'll have the other version of this up later on.


	3. Savior: Save the Regios!

Layfon looked down, narrowing his eyes, closing them after a moment, then clenched his fists and teeth as he made his decision.

He had to save the Regios first.

If the Regios were to be destroyed, then a great deal of his own loved ones might end up becoming injured, if not killed...

He looked towards the Regios, plummeting towards the ground, then breathed a quick breath, concentrating his kei.

"Kei... Whirlwind!" The blue winds cut into a cirle around him, and he narrowed his blue eyes, before lifting his foot, slamming it down on the ground, his kei pulsing like a heartbeat as he flew up into the air, Layfon having to close his left eye tightly, the pulse invoking within him an endless bout of pain as he gained altitude in the skies, Layfon suddenly finding it harder to breathe the higher he went.

He charged an ever increasing amount of kei into his jump relentlessly despite this fact, and the distance between himself and the Regios - ideally, Glendan - was rapidly decreasing, until Layfon found himself soaring up the side of Glendan, only for the immense size it had mixed with its already much too high rate of falling making Layfon get hit with the powerful gust of air that slammed down on his head and face, making him close his eyes tightly, body spinning uncontrollably in multiple directions at once.

He screamed, but regained his now scattered bearings fairly quickly, using his strength to turn himself in the air, concentrating his kei again.

Internal Type Kei - Fleeting Shadow!

Layfon reached an arm out to his left, and as a clone of himself appeared there, it instantly grabbed his hand tightly, using its kei to power up his body, and spun its creator through the air.

Then it threw him back down towards the ground, and Layfon went falling then, another clone appearing and copying the other clone's actions, grabbing his arm suddenly, making Layfon jerk around as he spun, before being thrown again.

Layfon falling down faster then, but then concentrated, once again building up his kei.

External Type Kei - Flash!

His body started to plummet faster than even the Regios itself, entering the air filter area of the Regios, going much too fast to ensure a comfortable landing on the ground.

Layfon used another clone to break the fall at the last moment however, and Layfon landed, a very sickening _crack_ like sound resonating in his ear drums, and Layfon felt some guilt about using his clone as he looked at the expression of his clone.

It had its eyes clutched tightly, and it groaned out, some bones probably broken all over from both front and back, teeth tightened greatly, face scrunched deeply.

As it glowed a blue light, then disappeared, Layfon sighed, glad for a second that it'd only been a clone.

Had it been him, his entire purpose would be compromised, as the fall would've definitely broken several bones.

He stood up, then looked towards the royal palace of Glendan, pumped kei into his legs, then sprinted as fast as he could towards it, not caring the slightest bit of the fact that his blue kei had now turned a dull gold color.

He did care about the fact that his indstincts told him to go to one area however.

His attention was brought to that area then, and he saw that sakura pink flower petals were moving in that area, as well as many other petals, all glowing brightly as they slashed through the sky.

He skidded to a stop then, knowing that there was only one Neni Operator of that power.

Yet another Heaven's Blade - Delbone Quantis Myuura.

Possibly one of the most powerful Neni Operators that Layfon had ever met in his life.

With her, he could find Lintence easily.

With his new course of action in mind, Layfon sprinted in that direction.

Upon arriving to her presence however, Layfon saw that he needn't ask for help to find his mentor.

For Lintence and a few other Heaven's Blades were standing around, including Queen Alsherya.

"Your Majesty!" Layfon ran to them, and they all looked at him, seeing him breathing heavily, hands on his knees.

She must not have recognized him, "Why are you not evacuating? Didn't you hear the sirens signalling for that?"

"Your Majesty, it's me, Layfon Alseif." Layfon stood straight after a moment, heart hammering against his rib cage obsessively like a child wildly playing the drums, and he looked as a look of realization passed over the Queen's face.

"Layfon? What's happened to you-?"

"I beg your forgiveness for interrupting your Majesty, but I came because I need to ask a favor of Lintence." Layfon looked at the man in question, seeing the familiar messy mane like hair style hair with a growing moustache still coming along, black trench coat and white undershirt adorning his attire as they almost always did.

"What do you need of me?"

"I need to borrow your steel threads; the Regios' will only create more damage in the city below us unless I used them to get to the water. They might be damaged still, but it'll lighten the damage at the least."

"Layfon, how could you make such a request? Have you already forgotten-" The Queen began, only to be cut off by Layfon.

"I remember! But this is more important right now! I NEED to use the steel threads to get everyone to safety, and I don't care what happens to me as a result, just that they're all safe."

The Queen looked as though she were about to say something, but Lintence beat her to the punch.

With a chuckle.

"Fine then Baby Spider. Show me your webs. Give me your own Heaven's Blade if you're that serious about it, and I'll give you mine."

Layfon made his Blade return to Dite form without a second thought, tossing it towards Lintence.

He caught it, and he restored it to its sword form as soon as his hands touched it.

As promised, Lintence threw his own custom made Heaven's Blade to Layfon, who caught it and looked at him, "Are you sure you'll be able to fight with that?"

"Steel threads aren't the only things I know how to fight with kid." He brandished the sword for emphasis.

"Lintence, I didn't give you permission-"

"I'm sorry as well your Majesty, but Layfon has a point. Even if he fought the Contaminoids with the Heaven's Blade, he wouldn't be of much use in his current condition. This is the best course of action."

The Queen looked for a moment, then sighed, "First Savalis rebels and now you two... Fine. At the very least you two idiots don't have ill intent like a certain someone else. You may go."

The remaining Heaven's Blades dispersed next second, even the Queen herself, throwing off her royal gown and revealing her to wear a white tight fitted outift.

Only Delbone remained.

Layfon breathed as he jumped off of Glendan, seeing from how far up he was that he didn't have much time.

It had to be 2 miles away at best, if that wasn't just wishful thinking on Layfon's part.

He needed to seriously hurry up!

He gripped Lintence's Blade, and spun while in the air, seeing the other 2 Regios, the wind blowing his hair up as he did so.

With all his strength (with his kei pumping through him of course) Layfon thrust the steel threads up, and he watched as the golden wires wrapped themselves around the top of Glendan, until they were enlongated enough for him to swing across the bottom of Glendan, rights towards the other end.

Grasping the two sides after several attempts, Layfon breathed, pushing his own kei to the max, and he swung the Regios with a good deal of strain, but managed to spin in the air, yelling out his pain as he did this, before letting the steel thread go as it suddenly snapped.

He watched it fall, and he smiled as it landed on the water, landing somewhat wet but still safe.

He himself spun in the air, seeing Zuellni, and he thrust his mentor's Heavens Blade right at it, and the thread reached Zuellni, wrapping tightly around something, and Layfon swung, as though he were swinging on a vine in a forest, and he ended up on Zuellni's other side in moments.

However, just as he reached there, Layfon felt the thread being jerked violently in different directions, and he looked back to see the legs of the mobile city still operating, mangling up the steel thread.

Without much of a choice, Layfon jest let the inertia swung him upward when one part of the thread caught in the city's rim, and he cut the steel thread with Kei Needles, body spinning in the air, before landing gracefully onto his feet.

Layfon looked down, and thought of how to get the Regios down to the water without having the steel threads being mangled up in the process, as time was of the essence.

He thought for a moment, then came to a conclusion quickly, concentrating his kei.

External Type Kei - Fleeting Shadow.

A clone of himself appeared before him, and instantly the clone took an end of the severed steel thread, pulling it and wrapping it securely around his arm several times, until Layfon was sure it'd probably lose its circulation, if not its whole arm, if it tightened up at all.

Without saying anything, the clone ran off into city, and when Layfon sensed it to be at the rim, both he and the clone jumped off at the same time.

As they both fell, Layfon looked, surprised to see that his plan was working.

As the two swung towards each other, Layfon reached his artificial self and wrapped his arms around it, before getting a good grasp on the other end of the steel thread, the clone disappearing as Layfon wrapped the thread stronger than steel around his hand.

Holding both ends now, Layfon tried to swing again after concentrating a large amount of kei within himself.

As it spun, Layfon again severed the thread and looked right at the last Regios, Myath.

External Type Kei - Flash!

A golden light covered him as he flew right towards the city, only to crash land on its surface as its protective layer was never fully solid.

He hit the ground, trying to land on his feet but losing his balance, and falling on his arm, bouncing up into the air somewhat before rolling onto his front.

"Damn it..." Layfon cursed under his breath again, scowling in pain.

He needed to stop doing that...

He forced himself to get up, and he breathed heavily, clutching his arm, feeling as though it was broken somewhat.

He still had to get this thing into the ocean...

An idea struck his head again, and Layfon looked, seeing three sturdy light posts on the ground near the rim, and ran to it, limping somewhat now.

Still breathing heavily, Layfon bit back pain as he wrapped a thread around each posts several times, using both arms.

Then, when he finished with that, Layfon used that to keep him poised on the rim after he jumped off the side.

Without a second thought, Layfon clutched the handle of the steel thread's Heavens Blade as tightly as his hands would allow, then ran quickly around the Regios' rim, doing it only once before jumping back onto the Regios, running around the three posts again as he still extended the weapon, then ran the whole perimeter again, jumping back onto the Regios, seeing that his steel threads now went into a "X" like form, and he moved the handle under the X, lifting it over and pulling, finishing the knot he'd been trying to form.

Then Layfon jumped back onto the rim of the Regios, planting his feet as he stood at an angle for it.

With a deep breath, Layfon pulled the weapon, and the light posts creaked but still held, the boy yelling out as he spun the Regios one last time, clenching his teeth at how light headed he felt, then finally cut the string when the Regios was in the right position, and he could only watch as the Regios spun, falling away and spinning wildly.

It hit the water the hardest, yet still managed to safely float on the water.

Layfon smiled, vision becoming hazy as he fell, before he lost consciousness all together, his tight grip on the Heavens Blade loosening and making it fall in the air like he did.

He was soon plummeting head-first in a downwards spiral, well over a kilometer still above the sea.

A fall like that could injure anyone for life, but with his wounds, Layfon was unaware of the fact that he was plummeting to his death in that moment.

Until of course a red haired man suddenly appeared next to him in the air, restoring his Steel Whip dite and wrapping it around the also falling Heavens Blade dite.

He held him securely in his arms, then turned in the air.

External Type Kei - Whirlwind.

A green aura covered his body, and he blasted off towards the ground crashing on his deliberate destination, feet making a small crater in the ground.

And with that, the man walked to the closest ambulance, setting Layfon down and placing the Heavens Blade on top of his chest, looking at him momentarily as he slept on the stretcher.

"You did good for your first time using one of "them", and you're just a kid." He smiled, and he only walked away then without giving an answer as to who he or the boy were, pulling his dite out and kicking off into the air, right back towards the battle with the Contaminoid.

* * *

Layfon woke up several minutes later, seeing he was in a hospital bed, then springing up suddenly when he remembered what had happened.

He cringed almost immediately, left hand going over his bandaged arm, clenching one of his eyes shut as he did this.

"Don't overwork yourself kid. Everyone's safe now." A voice said next to him, and he looked, Layfon quickly seeing a man with red hair and goggles, green jacket and pants with a regular white t-shirt.

"Who are you?"

"That doesn't really matter right now. You got a bunch of people to safety, so don't fret." He looked up at the clock for a moment, then walked towards the window, opening it before quickly exiting the room, a sakura petal quickly flying in.

_"Layfon?"_

Layfon looked at his name, eyes widening as he saw the flake spinning in the air as it glowed, "Felli?"

_"Thank goodness! We all thought we'd lost you!"_

"S-Sorry about that..."

There was no response for a moment, then the voice spoke again, _"Layfon, how did you get here?"_

"I'm... not sure exactly." Layfon admitted, "All I remember is that I was trying to fling the Regios into the harbor, and then passing out, and waking up... here." He had trailed off momentarily because he thought of telling Felli of the red haired man, only to see him lift a finger over his lips in the corner of his eye, Layfon seeing the _"don't say anything"_ vaguely.

Felli didn't seem to notice, _"Alright. We'll have the platoon get to your location soon. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."_

Layfon looked at the flake as it left him, and he stared at the window for a long time, "There's not really much I can do at all." Layfon said to himself.

"Alright then. It looks like it's my time to go now." The man walked with his hands both folded one over the other at the top of his head, heading right for the window, but stopping as he passed Layfon.

"Wait, just who are you?" Layfon questioned again, looking at him intensely.

"You really want to know?" He looked nonchalantly at him through the corner of his eyes, "Don't worry. You'll see me again soon. Until then..." He reached over and tapped Layfon's forehead, "Rest."

The man's kei pumped into Layfon's head, and due to his command, he fell out instantly.

The man smiled at Layfon, then walked in the same manner to reach the window, taking a glance back at Layfon.

That platoon captain really had a lot of work ahead of her, he thought, then turned back, hands pushing into his pockets, as he pressed his foot into the window sill before his body dispersed in a flash of green light.


	4. Waking Up

Layfon woke up hours later, eyes opening slowly, only to become wider as he realized that he was in an unfamiliar environment, sun poking through the window into his room, casting an orange light into the room.

Getting up quickly, he sprung up, only to suddenly grasp his ribs, nails digging into his skin roughly, teeth clecnhed as he tried to stifle the sound of pain coming from his mouth.

Which was a horribly failed attempt.

"You're finally awake." The emotionless female voice said next to him.

Looking, Layfon could see a girl who looked no older than 12 with flowing silver hair and matching eyes looking at him, wearing the official military arts uniform for Zuellni.

"H..." Layfon tried to speak, but found it surprisingly hard to do so, chest hurting as he did this, "Hey there Felli." He finally managed to say weakly, forcing a smile onto his face.

He got a jab in the ribs in response.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, holding the place she'd hit him, voice coming out as hoarse, "What was that for?"

"For trying to make it seem like you're okay, when you're obviously not."

"I'm injured and in a hospital bed Felli," Layfon stressed, pain still in his expression, "Can't you be a bit more considerate for once?"

"If you'd be more "considerate" about how others feel about you, then yes." Felli responded.

He blinked at that, then realized what she meant.

"I made you worry again, didn't I?"

"It's not just me. Everyone on the platoon too."

"Sorry..."

"Apologizing can lose its meaning when you make the same mistake over and over again Layfon."

He sighed, "I know, it's just..."

"What were you thinking, doing that all by yourself?"

(A/N: If you chose the Fallen choice, here's what you would say if you were in Layfon's position. I'll put it in bold so you can differentiate between them.)

**"I had to do something. I couldn't just stand by and let the Contaminoid start to destroy everything."**

**"Taking on that thing head on alone was something only a reckless idiot would do, you said that yourself once." Felli said, looking at him, eyes for once narrowed into what could be taken for as a scowl.**

**"I guess... I just didn't think there were many options there in that moment... I had to at least try to fight it. Buy some time for people to evacuate and for help to arrive..."**

(A/N: And now the Savior's choice.)

_"I didn't really have much choice. Lugging the Regios back into the ocean was a pretty difficult thing to do. The cities would've been damaged at a devastating level if I hadn't. I couldn't take the chance, what with you and everyone else on there._

Felli sighed, "I always thought you'd done idiotic things before, but this?" She shook her head lightly, "(**Fighting a Contaminoid of that power**/_Trying to throw the Regios into the ocean_) is something pretty incredible to do, especially in the condition you were in."

"Hey, I helped out at least, didn't I?" Layfon said, smile on his face again.

"That's true..." Felli jabbed him in the ribs again, "But it was still something someone either insane or just that stupid would do."

Layfon fought to hold in his moan of pain, Felli retracting her nails after a moment, "...please Felli... no more jabs... they hurt..." He said through clenched teeth.

"Too bad. This'll be your punishment then." Felli said, sitting back onto her chair.

"Where's the rest of the platoon anyways?" Layfon asked, rubbing his ribs delicately.

"They're all asleep right now." Was her only response.

"Speaking of which, how about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you get any sleep? You look tired."

Felli looked at him for a moment, simply staring, and unbenknownst to the boy, Felli was hesitating to speak, though her position as a Nene Psychokinetic left this a secret from everyone but herself.

Then she sighed softly, "Yes, you're right. I didn't get any sleep yesterday."

"Wow, was I really THAT banged up?"

"Answer that question for yourself before you ask me." Felli said, her words probably meant to be something like someone giving a tone to someone who was stating the obvious, though her emotionless voice made it impossible to tell if this were the case or not.

Layfon looked over himself, and realized what she meant.

His entire stomach and half of his torso were wrapped in bandages, and as Layfon looked at the mirror, he saw there was yet another one wrapped tightly around his head, him not recognizing himself of course when he saw that he had coal black hair and golden eyes.

Not to mention some stitches he had on his face.

"...yeah, that should be pretty self explanitory." Layfon said in a sheepish tone, rubbing his head.

"Of course it is." Felli said.

"Why don't you get some rest then?"

"The waiting room is all full."

Oh.

"How about you try the bed over there?" Layfon pointed through the curtains with his thumb, the rest of his hand in a fist, right towards where the other bed should've been.

As though on cue, someone groaned, bed creaking as they turned over in their sleep.

Layfon didn't say anything for a moment, thumb still pointing at the bed, before slowly lowering his hand.

"It's alright Layfon, I've gone through just fine after going through all nighters in the past. This is no different."

"...come on, Felli." Layfon lifted his blanket up, scooting over slightly to make some room for her, "You can sleep with me."

He'd made the decision against his own better judgement, as he knew what having dealings with her older brother might lead up to if he got the wrong idea.

And from what Layfon was saying then, he almost would be asking for it, what with there being very little else to assume when a boy and a girl slept on a bed together. He considered getting off the bed at first, but knew just scooting over made his muscles ache horribly.

He'd probably fall hard on his face the moment he took his second step.

So, that was all he could come up with.

Felli stared at him for a good hard moment.

"Why? I said I'd be fine." She asked finally.

"You try saying that with the look on your face right now." Layfon said, smile somewhat teasing as he looked at Felli.

Though it was usually unlike him to tease, he did still have a point though.

Felli's posture, typically perfect, was slouched over somewhat, and her eyelids, still at about the usual distance from each other as not to express emotion, were even closer to each other than usual, threatening to close if she were to let them close even a few millimeters further.

She scowled at him, and he still lifted the cover up, beckoning her to come in.

"...You'd better not try anything, you pervert." She spoke after a moment, finally crawling into bed with him, Layfon covering her.

"I wasn't really thinking of doing anything Felli." Layfon said honestly, hugging her to him, her face in his chest.

"...why are you...?"

"It feels a bit cold in here, so I thought I'd warm you up." Layfon said, oblivious to the small blush creeping onto Felli's cheeks as she stared at his chest.

But she gave no response.

Layfon looked down at the top of her head after a moment, smiling as he felt her breathing relax after about half a minute, before he felt it come and go on his chest, at a regular, steady interval.

He smiled, then let his own exhaustion take him back into the dream world.

* * *

"Aw, would you look at those two?" A 17 year old girl spoke as she entered the room several hours later, blond curly hair and blue eyes still happy at the sight of them, "They look so cute together."

"You shouldn't be so happy Yang." Ruby said behind her, a vase filled with flowers in her hand, both she and her sister wearing their school uniform.

"I know sis, but just look at those two!" Yang said, and Ruby looked, smiling somewhat awkwardly.

"...they... do look cute together..." She said, looking at Layfon and Felli as Layfon held her snugly in his arms, though she was somewhat only saying that because that was what Yang had said.

She wasn't really much of an expert on things that were considered "cute".

"But we aren't here for them. We came to see Jaune didn't we?" Ruby said, walking to the other side of the room, pushing the curtain back as Jaune was revealed to her.

He actually only had a broken arm, which was wrapped securely in a cast.

That didn't stop him from looking rather miserable though.

"Don't look like that big guy." Yang said, prodding his forehead lightly with the bent part of her forefinger.

"How else am I supposed to look then?" Jaune looked up at her.

"Be happy. It could've been a whole lot worse than it was."

"I just wish I could use my Aura more." Jaune sighed, hitting the pillow he was resting his head on with his head.

"You've still got a long ways to go."

"She's right though Jaune," Ruby supported her sister, setting the flowers down next to him, "After all, you should be glad it didn't end in a much worse way."

"What way would that be?"

"Well... You being dead." Ruby responded bluntly, looking at the flowers she'd brought him.

"...yeah, that's true." Jaune said, thinking back.

He'd only been trying to get some civilians to safety.

But as he tried to do that, that Grimm ended up using some kind of eye beam on the general area where he was.

He got blown through the air immediately, and had to break the fall using his arm.

The end result was a dislocated shoulder and a somewhat fractured arm.

No one died in that explosion, thank God, but he still would've probably had an easier time if he could, oh he didn't know, _actually use his freaking Aura when he most needed it._

If it weren't for the fact that Phyrra hadn't been running down with her fellow teammates Jaune would've felt sure that he'd probably be much worse off than he was now.

He sighed.

"You're right, I shouldn't complain." He admitted, opening his now closed eyes.

"Good." Ruby smiled, "You're important to us Jaune, don't try bringing us all down just because you feel down in the dumps."

"...thanks Ruby." Jaune tried to hide the deflatedness in his tone.

"No problem. Though... I guess it must kind of suck to have to spend your birthday in the hospital..."

"That's fine Ruby. I'm okay with that." Jaune said, lifting a thumb enthusiastically, "I can't let it bring me down."

"That's the spirit!" Ruby gave him a thumb up back.

Yang smiled at the scene before her, "Seems like you two have been getting closer and closer the more time goes by."

"Yeah, we'll always be siblings in arms. Won't we Jaune?"

"Of course we will."

"Alright. I just want to tell you... don't let yourselves get TOO close to each other..." Yang said, leaving her comment hanging, smile suggestive.

"Hm?" Jaune looked at the elder of the siblings.

"What do you mean by that Yang?" Ruby asked, giving her the same look.

The suggestive smile faltered for a split second, but returned as though there had been nothing happening to make that happen to begin with.

"I'm saying, that if you two start to become too close to each other..." Yang looked down, long hair hiding her look, then ran up to Ruby and hugged her sister, "I'm scared you'll snatch her up away from me Jaune." She said, feigning a cry into Ruby's shoulder.

"...!" Ruby's eyes widened when she realized what her sister was suggesting.

Jaune had the same reaction, and he immediately tried to deny it.

"There wouldn't be any way that I'd..." He began to speak, only trailing off after a moment.

Ruby pushed her sister away, waving her hands frantically in front of herself, "No way we'd ever do that!"

"I'm just messing with you two." Yang brought her hands to the back of her head, looking at them, "But really Jaune, Ruby cares a lot about you. It's obvious from how much she wanted to try and visit you."

"Really?" He looked at Ruby, and she looked down sheepishly.

"I just wanted to make sure a fellow team leader was alright." She said.

"Liar~." Yang chimed, turning to her, "Admit it, you were worried sick about the guy."

"Okay fine, so I was. Jaune's my friend, that's how I'm supposed to feel, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I bet he'd do the same thing if your roles were switched." Yang leaned down so she and Jaune met eye to eye, "Isn't that right Jauney boy?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm supposed to do after all." Jaune smiled.

"Well, I'm sure that we should get going now. Our next class starts in a couple of minutes, so... see ya!" Yang ran away then, pushing past the curtain and leaving.

Ruby looked at the clock, eyes widening when she saw that they did in fact have less than ten minutes, and was about to run with Yang until she paused, taking the flowers she'd brought Jaune and setting them on the side where his arm was usable.

"Get well soon Jaune." Was all she said in a hurry, her using her semblance to catch up to Yang, as she herself had a head start on her.

In the hall, she ran with Yang, and looked at her as she ran.

"What's wrong sis?"

"Do you always have to do that whenever I have a guy who's a friend?!" Ruby said loudly, the duo soon making their shoes squeal as they came to a sudden stop.

"It's my sisterly duty; get used to it." Yang replied, running out the automatic entrance to the hospital.

Ruby groaned.

Yang would never stop doing it, would she?

She could only thank God that they were at the hospital near Beacon; they ran as fast as they possibly could to their next class.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaune was looking at the flowers Ruby had given him.

He pulled one of the vase and stared at it, looking as it seemed very familiar to him...

He shrugged the feeling off, bringing it to his nose and sniffing somewhat.

Almost instantly, the boy sneezed violently, before looking at the flower again.

_Now _he remembered it.

They were flowers that were only found in Forever Fall...

He sneezed violently again, and put the flower back in its vase.

He should probably see the doctor to make sure of whether he was allergic to that stuff or not...

Another sneeze made Layfon wake up, and as did Felli, looking around as the sneezing continued.

Felli looked up at Layfon, then retracted herself from him, getting back onto her feet and immediately walking towards Jaune's side of the room, moving the curtain out of the way and looking inside, "Excuse me, are you alright?"

"I... I'm fi-" Jaune sneezed violently again.

"Do you have a cold perhaps?" She asked, and Jaune shook his head.

"I think I'm allergic to these flowers..."

Felli looked at the vase filled with the flowers in question, then walked to it, picking it up and placing it on the dresser on the other side of the room.

"Do you feel better now?" Felli turned back to Jaune.

He nodded after a moment, rubbing his nose, "Yeah, thanks." He said in a nasally different voice.

"No problem." Felli responded, and was just about to leave the room when Jaune called out to her.

"Wait, are you wearing a uniform?"

"Yes." She stopped.

"Are you here for the tournament that's taking place soon?"

"No, I'm not. I'm not even sure why I'm here actually." Felli spoke, her honesty marred by her emotionless voice.

"Where do you go to school then?"

"I'm in the Military Arts program at the academic city Zuellni." If possible, there would've been a bit of scorn in her voice if Felli could let it happen, but it never did.

"An academic city?"

"Yes."

"Are you saying that the city you come from is filled with academies then?"

Felli looked at him, reading his expression to see if he was being serious or not.

Seeing that he was, she mentally raised an eyebrow in question.

The boy looked to be about 17, just around her age, and yet she'd known the term "academic city" and all the things it implied by the time she was 3 from what Kalian, her older brother, and their parents had told her.

So why was it that he didn't know...?

She turned away, "You could say that in a way." Was all she said before leaving him.

As she passed Layfon, she turned to him, "It's time for me to go now. I'll see you later Layfon."

"You too Felli." Layfon said, smiling at her as he waved.

"Make sure not to do anything stupid while I'm gone." Felli ordered, then walked away.

"Come on Felli, at least have a little faith in me..." Layfon said, not expecting her to answer.

"There's no point in a person putting faith in someone else to not do something that they do regardless of circumstance unless said person is or wishes to become insane." She replied bluntly as she stopped at the door.

Then she looked away somewhat, "But thanks for letting me rest with you." Felli said, finally leaving again, Layfon once again oblivious to the blush on her face.

"It was no problem, Felli." Layfon said after her, holding a hand up to wave her goodbye, only to clench his eye shut tightly again, holding a hand over his ribs again, cursing inwardly to himself.

He needed to avoid moving around too much...

"Your friend seems... nice." His roommate's voice filled his ears, and Layfon looked at him through the curtain, only his silhuoette visible due to the light streaming in from his window.

"Yeah, she can be a bit brash sometimes though." Layfon responded, resting his head back onto the pillow.

"I understand what you're saying." A pause. "Hey, my name's Jaune Arc, what's your name?"

"My name's Layfon Alseif. It's nice to meet you Jaune."

"Same here." Jaune said, his voice carrying a smile of his own, "I'd shake your hand right now, but I can't exactly..."

"Don't feel too bad. I can barely move that much myself." Layfon said, and they shared a laugh.

Over time, the two conversed, their conversation extending for longer and longer periods of time.

It would be hard not to call the roommates friends after a few minutes passed by them.

Felli walked down the hall, only to stop when a woman wearing all white stopped her on her way to the waiting room, and it didn't take the young girl very long to realize that there were another several bunch of men and women with her as well.

"Excuse me, but do you know where Layfon Alseif's room is?" The tall, black haired woman asked, and after a moment, Felli pointed down the hall, right towards the room Layfon was in.

"Thank you very much." She said, and as the group passed her, Felli couldn't help but notice the girl walking at the very middle of them all.

A girl with light brown hair and green eyes, wearing a dress that had colors of light and dark brown as the main style of it.

It took Felli a split second to realize who it was.

Leerin Marfes.

She looked after the group as they went back to Layfon's room, and for a moment, she wondered why she was there.

And that was what made her restore her dite, a wand like rod that had several rows of flower petals curling around the top of it.

One flake moved behind them as they began to enter the room.

* * *

Layfon had been listening to Jaune talking about how he had become a team leader at his academy when he turned and saw, to his great surprise, all the Heaven's Blades entering.

"Queen Alsherya?" Layfon looked at the woman in the middle of the group.

When he was saying that, the queen herself had started to do a minute gesture for him not to call her by her name, but sighed when she realized it was too late.

"I guess she was bound to learn sooner or later." She sighed, turning back to Leerin, who's eyes widened.

"...you're...?" The girl asked, remembering several of the times that Alsherya had spent with her, all the times she'd protected her, all the times she had... "...don't tell me that you really are..."

Alsherya had groped her breasts incessantly from the very first moment they had met up with each other.

And to think, the breast groping, atmospherically oblivious woman... was the same queen of her home town of Glendan.

"I'm the real deal." Alsherya confessed, smiling with spread out hands.

"...hah..." Leerin looked at Alsherya for a very long time.

"Anyways," Alsherya wheeled herself around, "We all came because we needed to speak with you Layfon."

"What did you wish to speak with me about your highness?"

"Please, call me by my real name. It's not as though I'm your queen anymore."

"Ah, yes Qu-... Alsherya." Layfon corrected himself quickly.

He had already almost earned the wrath of Felli whenever he called her his senpai out of respect.

He didn't even want to imagine invoking the same wrath from the Queen of Glendan, a woman who could single handedly defeat any of the Heaven's Blades without even breaking a sweat.

Or getting a scratch even.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"It's about the Fallen One."

"Yes?"

"A recent investigation helps us to learn what happened to it."

"What happened then?"

"It seems the Fallen One has actually chosen a new host..."

"Savalis you mean?"

"No, that idiot is right here." She said with a rather forced smile, turning to see Lintence holding Savalis on his back, him unconscious and unmoving.

"Really, so who's the new host now?"

Alsherya looked at him, then she held her hip, her free hand reaching her head, "I actually thought that you would've realized it by now... but, it's _you _Layfon."

* * *

A/N: I thank Fireminer for reviewing.

But in response to what you've said, I'll simply say that Layfon'll have the same "Harem" (I say it like that as he's so dense about it), but will also add a few girls from RWBY as well.

If curious, then you'll simply have to wait and see who else will be added.


	5. Team Formation

Layfon blinked at that, "I'm...?"

The queen of Glendan nodded.

He stared for a long time, then looked at the other Heaven's Blades.

"How can you be so sure that I'm the host?"

"It disappeared just after you managed to defeat Savalis. And when it disappeared, it only took a few more seconds after that and suddenly your body was exploding in kei." Delbone spoke, walking over to him.

Layfon looked at the old woman, surprise taking his expression.

"That must explain why I look the way I do right now..." Layfon lifted one of his locks and looked at it, golden eyes still showing lucidly that he was trying to get used to his new look.

"Yes. I wonder if it has anything to do with our own situation right now." Alsherya looked at the window opposite Layfon and opened it, staring out at the clear blue sky, "It's a rather phenomenal development, but it's so surprising to see such civilization outside a Regios... much less a sky as beautiful as this..." She visibly trailed off as she looked outside, into the vast, deep, azure blue sky, clouds that were in shapes that suggested that they were solid objects and were forcibly torn in a tug of war in the skies dotting the heavens conspicuously.

"I wish I could say I got a good look at the outside world too Alsherya." Layfon smiled, "But when you're (**trying to hold off an Elder**/_trying to lug three Regios through the air_), you honestly don't get very much time to do that." He laughed somewhat at himself.

Then he turned at the sounds of footsteps coming to him, and Layfon quickly saw who it was, "Leerin?" He said in mixture of surprise and questioning.

The brown haired girl narrowed her green eyes, then hit him on the head, "You can be such an idiot sometimes Layfon..." Leerin scolded, like a mother to their son after the latter did something that defied the rules of common sense.

"You too Leerin?" Layfon said, looking up at the girl, "I just wanted to help!"

"Doing that kind of thing is insane!" She yelled.

"I'm sorry, but there wasn't much else I could do."

She scowled at him more deeply, then shoved a wooden rectangular box into him, Layfon taking it into his hands in surprise, "Take this. Bringing this to you was the main reason I tried to come to find you in Zuellni to begin with."

"Huh?" Layfon looked up at her, then down at the box, eyes widening softly when he saw the symbol on top of it, then opened the box, revealing a dite, "A Psyharden family line dite?" He looked up at Leerin for comfirmation.

She nodded, hands on her hips, smiling, "Father said that he's forgiven you, and wanted to give this to you as a gift for mastering the kitana."

He looked with a taken aback expression for a moment, then his gaze became rather distant as he looked back down at the dite again, before closing the box once more, "I'm sorry but... I can't take this..."

"Why?"

"I gave up the kitana a long time ago. I can't accept this."

"But Father's forgiven you...!"

"Even so." Layfon looked down, a guilty nostalgia flickering in his eyes, the look one got when remembering a wrong they'd done to others and wishing that somehow he could fix it...

"You idiot..." Leerin grasped his cheeks and made him look up at her, "There's no need to regret anything anymore. Everyone has already forgiven you. And you said that you wanted to protect everyone you cared about, right?"

"Well, yes, but..."

Leerin cut him off by smashing her lips against his.

Layfon's eyes widened, and they stayed just like that for a moment, before Leerin finally pulled away from him, looking him in the eye, "Then don't hesitate to use what skills you have. You're one of the best users of the Psyharden line around. So quit making excuses, alright?" She pulled away from him, hands on her hips again, her motherly posture taking over.

Layfon stared back for a short period of time, then looked down at the box again.

He stared down at it, then reopened it again, looking at the dite once more.

"Yes." He said, eyes hardening, voice very calm, though it was marred by the hoarseness of his throat.

Leerin had watched him enough times to know what had just happened.

Whenever Layfon's usually laid back, and overall kind demeanor changed to the all around serious and cold, maybe even emotionless, expression, it very often meant that his "battle side" as she called it had surfaced.

Layfon took the weapon into his hand, lifting it up and holding it, looking at it, "It weighs perfectly..." He narrowed his eyes, "Restoration!"

The black rectangular dite turned into a one sided sword instantly, and it eminated a blue glow as he weilded it.

Leerin smiled, "There, now you can start helping out more."

"It's been so long since I've even used one of these..." Layfon carefully lifted it up, the end of the sword pointing to his right as he held it horizontally, careful not to hit Leerin with it by accident, "I hope I haven't rusted up at all..."

"I'm sure that isn't the case. From what your platoon tells me, you've been using your sword like it was a kitana for a long time now. I'm pretty positive you'll be fine."

Layfon could only think to smile in response to hers.

He returned the dite to its original form, and he placed it back in the box, setting it on the side of his table.

"I'll be going to check on everyone in the orphanage now. I'll see you later Layfon." Leerin smiled at him one more time before leaving, oblivious to the glowing sakura petal she passed that had lodged itself right outside the doorway.

Alsherya smiled at the back of Leerin's head as she left, then walked up to Layfon, looking down at him.

To this, Layfon looked back up at her, "Yes your high-"

He stopped short when she grasped him very tightly by the head, bringing him closer to her, her leaning down so she could speak into his ear, "I'll let you in on a little secret Layfon. It turns out that Leerin could very well have been my daughter in actuality. But somehow, she ended up in the same place as you were. I won't beat around the bush, even though it isn't official, I still see that girl as my daughter. So don't hurt her feelings, in any way whatsoever." She leaned back, looking him in the eye with a very intimidating smile on her face, "Understood?"

It wasn't a question.

"Y-Y-Yes Que- Alsherya!" Layfon spoke quickly, very scared even though the Fallen One was within him and it could multiply his power ten-fold.

Alsherya was just that powerful...

Layfon wouldn't be in any doubts that even if he had ten Fallen Ones inside him that he wouldn't find a fight with the Queen a very easy fight.

It'd be a death wish in itself.

Alsherya smirked at his stutter, then sighed softly while looking away, "I know you can be dense sometimes but when the girl just kissed you..." She trailed off.

"Huh?" Layfon looked up at the woman.

"Never mind." She said, releasing his head and letting him fall back on the bed, "Anyways, that was one of two things that we wanted to speak to you about."

"What was the second thing?" Layfon hesitated to ask, still somewhat scared despite himself.

"Do you know where the Heaven's Blade is?" She asked, turning to him.

Layfon nodded, then pointed to a cabinet next to him, "They had trouble putting it in here by the time I got here, but they eventually managed."

She nodded, kneeling down and opening the cabinet, pulling out the weapon as it scraped against its inner surface.

"Take this for me Reverse." She held it out, then handed it to a short man with armor covering his entire body, as though he were a knight in gold and white, and he took it in his hands.

"Yes your majesty." He had said as he took it.

Alsherya smiled, "That should be all. Thank you for your cooperation Layfon," She looked back at him, "We may be in touch soon, but make sure you get better before then." Then she followed behind the other Heaven's Blades as they exited.

Layfon sighed to himself, closing his eyes, then looked up again when he saw Felli walking into the room.

"Oh, hey Fell-" He stopped his sentence short when her foot came crashing into one corner of the bed, it breaking upon contact, the bed sagging in towards the corner she'd kicked it into.

Layfon barely registered what was happening before he went rolling off the bed, falling right on his face, "Oh _come on _Felli!" He said from the ground, nose hurting as well.

"Idiot..." She walked briskly away without another word.

"Uh... Layfon? Are you okay?" Jaune's voice carried over into Layfon's ears.

Would he believe him if he said that a girl who looked impossibly young for her age had literally destroyed half a bed with a single rage induced kick?

"...yeah, just... laying here on the floor..." Layfon said, still face down, the pain in his body all over.

"Wow, so this is where you were. Must suck to be you, huh bub." A voice dragged into Layfon's ear, and he immediately stiffened at the sound, before very slowly looking back up at the owner of said voice.

At the sight of the orange haired boy with pale green eyes and a black tattoo on his face, along with the smile tugging at his lips, Layfon found himself staring up at him.

"Haia?" He finally asked after a long time.

It was him.

Haia Salinvan Laia.

He was Layfon's cousin in training so to speak. They both had learned the Psyharden style of the kitana, but through different masters, who were brothers to each other.

Layfon wasn't exactly thrilled to see said cousin in training.

Mainly due to the fact that despite their similar skills, they had both fought each other at various times.

In their last fight, it had gotten to the point that Haia had forced him out for a fight by kidnapping Felli, and he was actually poised on killing him to prove his own father's powers (though the actual reason behind this went much deeper than that, Layfon knew) in that fight.

But despite him being heavily wounded, Layfon found himself victorious over a much more wounded Haia.

And here he was now.

"Yup, it's me." Haia looked at his half broken bed, hands on the back of his head, "Looks like there's some trouble in paradise on your end of things from what I can see." He said, looking at the bed with a smile.

"Don't worry. This happened before once. It just didn't end like this though..." Layfon responded, him still looking at his shoes.

"I'll try to bend this thing back into shape for you..." Haia clarified to him, then lifted up the tilted bed with one hand, grabbing the kicked in part of it, and roughly pulled it back, it coming with a rather loud snap, but still settling when he softly placed it back on the ground.

After doing this, Haia looked down at Layfon, "I'm guessing you'll need me to pick you up right now. Am I right bub?"

"Yeah."

Haia looked down for a moment, then picked him up, setting him back onto the bed, "Let's just hope your precious senior doesn't come stomping back in here hoping to dish out more damage. You look banged up enough as it is."

"Thanks for the help anyways," Layfon said, looking at him, "But why are you here Haia?"

"I was busy trying to get better in Zuellni after the last time we fought but next thing I know, we're all in this place. I don't know how the hell we got here, but we're here." He explained in a rather blunt manner, hands back on the back of his head, "I just wanted to see how my cousin in training was doing." He looked at him again, "Not so good from what I can see though." Haia said, a smile on his face.

"I'm still breathing." Layfon reasoned with his own smile.

"That girl seems pretty damn strong though... I didn't really think she had it in her, 'specially with her stature." Haia looked back at the floor, seeing the slight dents in the floor that marked how Felli had walked out of the room.

"Don't remind me." Layfon looked away as he thought of the numerous times Felli had released her wrath upon the world.

It usually ended with his shin or ankle being put through a tremendous amount of agony via a kick, and these had even completely destroyed her older brother's leg once.

Even one time when Felli was in a maid's cafe and Sharnid, one of Layfon's platoon members, had embarassed her by bringing him there to see it, Layfon had passed her as she was in the kitchen with Sharnid trying to get him out ASAP.

He understood why when he saw that her foot was pressed against a refigerator.

With a massive dent formed on its surface to fit her rather large red shoe then.

So yeah, there was really no arguing about the fact that Felli was very strong in spite of her appearance.

At least when she was pissed off.

Why she was pissed off then however was beyond Layfon's knowledge.

Not like that was any surprise.

The boy was only dense, if you had to put it in one word.

But then again, he had never been aware of the fact that Felli had been using her Nene to eavesdrop on the entire conversation...

"Excuse me, is Jaune Arc in here?" A voice said from behind them.

Haia and Layfon both turned to see a red haired girl looking inside at them, wearing a school uniform, another two accompanying her, one a boy with hair as dark as Layfon's but having one lock being a magenta color, the same going with his eyes, while the other had orange hair that was a few shades brighter in comparison to Haia's, but with green eyes a bit bigger and darker than his.

Both also wore uniforms, though the boy had a male version on for obvious reasons.

"I'm over here Phyrra!" Jaune's voice called towards her, and the girl's face brightened, walking through the room and pushing the curtain away, revealing Jaune and his broken arm cast.

Her face seemed to look a bit downtrodden after noticing the cast however.

"Hey there guys..." Jaune said awkwardly, waving at them with a somewhat forced smile on his face.

The orange haired girl disappeared from sight suddenly, and she appeared next to Jaune, "Aw, are you alright?"

"I've been better Nora, but I'm fine." Jaune responded, smiling in a reassuring way as compared to before.

"Good thing then. It wouldn't do anyone any good if our leader were to be out of commission." The male of the group spoke, walking up to Jaune's side and looking down at him, arms crossed.

"Are you sure you're alright Jaune?" The red haired girl spoke.

"I'll be fine Phyrra. The doctors said I just needed a couple of days, and then I'll be back to the way I was." Jaune said, hopeful look coming onto his face.

Phyrra smiled at him in response, hand wrapped around its other as they hung behind her, laying lightly against her waist.

"We just came by to see if you were alright. I'm glad to see that you are though."

"Really, it's fine, I'm alright guys." Phyrra walked casually to his currently broken arm, "No need to - !" He yelled out loudly in pain when Phyrra jabbed under his shoulder, right into his armpit.

"Don't pretend that you're fine in your condition Jaune. I know you want to play the hero, but you shouldn't try being the rough hero who isn't fazed by anything. It doesn't suit you."

"Can't you give me a break for once Phyrra?" Jaune said, eyes almost completely closed as he tenderly rubbed against the place she'd hit him in.

"No. But try to be more careful next time, alright Jaune?" Phyrra said, looking down at his arm.

"Yeah, I'll be more careful."

"...haha." Layfon had looked at the entire scene before him, and he himself chuckled.

Jaune turned his head in his new friend's direction, and Layfon looked back at him, "Sorry, it's just that you remind me of my own situation with my friends." He laughed again, thinking back to Felli and Leerin both.

The only differences between Jaune's and his situations were the facts that their injuries weren't the same and each of their ways of complaining after being hit (though was it complaining if they were injured while they got hit?).

"I don't believe we've met before." Phyrra turned to Layfon, crossing her arms as she looked at him.

"His name's Layfon guys. He's a pretty nice person from what I can tell." Jaune introduced before Layfon could have a chance to respond.

"Layfon?" The male spoke Layfon's name, as though seeing how it felt on his tongue.

"Ooh! Aren't you the same guy who (**fought the Grimm**/_lugged those giant cities into the harbor_) yesterday?!" Nora had come to his bedside in seemingly impossible speed, looking down at him.

Layfon looked up at that, "Huh?"

"It's true! You are the same guy!"

"Uh... Nora..." The magenta eyed boy held a hand up to her.

"He is! I remember seeing you on some of the photos in the news this morning!"

"Nora..."

"How did you ever learn how to do that kind of thing?"

"...please... please get off..." Layfon had closed his eyes tightly for the past few sentences she'd said, groaning slightly in pain, "...your elbows are on my stomach..."

Nora quickly saw this, and got off quickly, "Oh sorry about that!" She exclaimed apologetically.

"It's alright." Layfon said after the moment it took for him to recover.

Then she turned to Haia.

"That's such a cool looking tattoo you have!" She said quickly, Haia himself jumping when she seemed to appear at his side so quickly it was as though she'd teleported.

Haia stared at her, then mildly scratched his cheek with a finger as he turned away, "Uh... thanks I guess..."

"Why did you get it though?" She "teleported" to his other side now, Haia again jumping, "Was it a dare? Did you lose a bet?" She asked in rapid succession, then once again "teleported" to the other side of the bed, fore-finger and thumb wrapped around her chin as she held her right elbow up, visibly in thought, "Or maybe..." Nora's voice suddenly went into a dark rather creepy tone of itself, "It was to prove your manhood!" She pointed back at him, like a detective who'd just realized who the culprit of his most mysterious crime yet was while they were in the room.

Haia found himself smiling in a mixture of awkwardness and forcefulness.

This girl seemed pretty hyper...

Not to mention her speed.

He barely even saw her moving!

"No, it was none of those." He answered honestly.

It was like talking to the stereotypical child.

A full on chatterbox of questions before the asked could even answer one question.

"Nora, please stop." The standing raven haired boy said, taking a step towards her.

"Sorry Ren! I just always enjoy meeting new people, you know?" She turned to Ren, who smiled back at her.

"Yeah, but is it a good idea not to have much self control when your meeting said people?" Ren reached out to her shoulder.

"You're right!" Nora "teleported" once more, this time right next to Layfon's head, Ren's hand grasping at air, "Hi, my name's Nora Valkyrie! What's yours?" She pressed her hand out to him, as though for him to shake.

"Ah... I'm Layfon Alseif. Nice to meet you Nora." Layfon smiled at the girl, shaking her hand firmly.

Ren sighed, putting his hands on his hips, looking at his long time friend, "You really can be a handful sometimes Nora..."

She moved too quickly to clearly be seen by the naked eye again, this time hugging Ren, "I'm sorry! You know how I get around new people though!"

Ren smiled, then rubbed her head softly, "I know, I know. I didn't say it was necessarily a bad thing."

"Thanks Ren!" She moved again, this time by Haia, "It was nice meeting you! I'm going to get something to drink, would anyone like anything?"

When everyone said no or shook their head, Nora nodded her comfirmation, then moved again, this time disappearing from the room.

"...let's just hope that coffee isn't what she's getting..." Haia said bluntly as he stared at the doorway.

"Sorry about that. Nora usually acts that way whenever she meets someone new. Or is excited about something." Ren explained, looking at the door, "But don't worry about that. She told me she hated coffee anyways."

"Well damn, I didn't think I'd ever see the day when someone could move that fast. I'm actually impressed." Haia looked at the doorway as well.

"She's on the wild side of things, that's for sure." Ren agreed, yet smiled as he again placed his hands on his hips, "Anyways, let me introduce myself. I'm Lie Ren, but most people just call me Ren."

"I'm Haia Salinvan Laia." Haia looked at him with his trademark smirk coming back, "Pleasure to meet you bub."

"I'm Phyrra Nikos." Phyrra walked to Ren's side, smile on her face again.

"Nice to meet friends of new friends." Layfon responded.

"Yeah. Are you guys going to fight in the tournament though? You guys are part of one of the schools coming here, right?"

"No, not me. I don't go to school." Haia answered nonchalantly to Jaune's question.

"I go to a school, but I doubt I'll be any part of a tournament though." Layfon answered as well.

"That's too bad. You were on the news today though I think. You were involved with the Grimm that suddenly appeared, right?" Ren asked now.

"Grimm?" Layfon looked in questioning, "What's that?"

"Huh?" Ren looked at him in surprise, "Don't you know about the Grimm?"

"No. But that wasn't any "Grimm", I'm pretty sure. It was a Contaminoid."

It was Ren's turn to have the look of questioning on his face, "A what?"

"You know. Contaminoids. Filth Monsters?" Haia filled in for Layfon, looking at him.

"I've yet to ever have heard of such a thing." Phyrra said, puzzled look on her face as she crossed her arms.

"You're joking... right?"

"No, we aren't. But are you..." Phyrra looked at the doorway, and her eyes widened suddenly, "Mr. Ozpin!"

Haia and Layfon both turned to see a man with gray hair and brown eyes walk in, "Hello. It's nice to see that you're here as well Mr. Arc. Nikos, Lie." He nodded to them, then turned to Layfon and Haia, "Would you two be Layfon Wolfstein Alseif and Haia Salinvan Laia?"

Both boys glanced at each other for a moment, then both nodded.

"I'm pleased to inform you that you and many others will be part of Beacon Academy from this day forth."

Everyone except for the man speaking looked in surprise at this, while Layfon and Haia looked in confusion.

"Beacon Academy? Why were we enrolled into academies?"

"The leaders of the cities you both lived in previously - Regios, were they called? - have all had a conference with me speaking of what to do of their citizens. Though there will be a delay in classes while new buildings are built for this purpose, it's been agreed to that many, if not all, of the Military Artists within the Regios are much more than capable of putting other hunters and huntresses in training to shame in terms of power. This was shown very clearly with the fight against the Grimm... or "Filth Monster" as your leaders referred to it." Ozpin adjusted his glasses, "From here onwards, the Military Artists of your Regios who are of school going age will be sent to different academies. Those who are old enough to go to Beacon will also go there as well."

"Really? So how old do people have to be to become of age?" Layfon asked curiously.

"Typically, the age is 17. But both of your leaders have given you very high remarks on your skills, and if I'm not mistaken, you were once one of the strongest fighters in all of an entire city, am I correct Mr. Alseif?"

"Uh... yeah. That's true." Layfon hesitated somewhat.

"Due to such remarks, and remarks on how much you and Mr. Laia's fighting styles hold similarities, I've put you on the same team with each other." The cousins in training looked in surprise at this, then looked at each other once more.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." Haia agreed to it willingly after a moment.

Layfon took more time on the other hand.

He glanced at the kitana type dite sitting next to his bed, and he recalled why he had went to Zuellni to begin with.

Simply to find another path for himself other than fighting.

But yet...

He sighed, "Same here." He said reluctantly.

"It should be very soon that you'll meet with your other two teammates. They're new as well. At least... one should be. Your other teammate will be chosen shortly. The partner you two will have will be Felli Loss."

"Felli?" Layfon looked up at the sound of his friend's name.

"Once again, you'll know of the other teammate very soon. For now, you will be in need of a leader. But based on the reports I've gotten on each of you..." Ozpin looked at Haia, "Haia Salinvan Laia, you will be the leader of this team."

* * *

A/N: Slight change in the end for this chapter, as I've realized now that though part of me wanted Sun to be in the team, I've decided to change that for the plot's sake.

He'll still be in here, just not as a member of what used to be team S.H.F.L. (pronounced "Shuffle").

You'll see who's team he's on soon however.


	6. Meet the New Team Leader at Your School!

"And that's all that happened." Layfon said, finishing his side of things while he was sitting in the main lobby, which seemed to have emptied itself deeply, as only a few more people were left in the room still, the sun setting on the horizon and painting the room in its natural orange color.

It had been a day since Layfon had heard the news of his new team.

Since then, with that much more time of bed rest, he was able to move around a bit more, only going around in a wheelchair but still moving nonetheless.

As his habit of healing very quickly went, Layfon's stitches had been taken off, as well as some of the other wraps he had around his body.

He had been talking to his first friends since coming to Zuellni, Meishen, Mifi, and Naruki, who he'd been sitting in front of on his wheelchair as they all sat in chairs that were in one of many long rows.

The trio was a group composed of childhood friends, so naturally, when they more or less forcefully made him join their group (Layfon's eyes glanced at Naruki's belt, which her binding rope, at this thought, remembering very vividly how she'd tied him up and dragged him across the ground), Layfon felt a bit like an outsider would when coming up to a small town where absolutely everyone knew each other and their personalities, who also half expected him to know everything there was about them even if the case wasn't the other way around.

In other words, when they would get into heated conversation with each other, Layfon was merely an observer, never knowing whether to put his input on anything or not to.

"That sounds freaking awesome!" Mifi yelled, fists up in the air.

Layfon laughed somewhat, already knowing of the girl's attitude towards everything.

Out of the trio, Mifi was definitely the most energetic, which somehow fit with her aspiration to become a reporter.

"Just try not to push yourself too hard when doing anything, okay Layfon?" Naruki said, her reddish hair covering her eye as she looked at Layfon.

"I'll do my best, sorry Naruki." Layfon scratched his head sheepishly, his once hoarse voice becoming much more like his own (though it did still feel a bit rough in his throat whenever he spoke, or ate, or laughed).

Her tone of half-scolding half-impressed fit her personality as well.

Naruki was the tallest in the group, and somehow she was also the most responsible. It was fitting that she wanted to become a policewoman as well.

Layfon couldn't help but admit to himself she looked more on the boyish to him though.

He had even thought that she'd looked better with the boy's uniform for Military Artists when he'd first met her.

"..." Meishen looked down at the pink cylinder of a lunch box she'd brought along with her, then smiled up at Layfon, "I... I'm glad you're okay Layfon..."

Her somewhat quiet voice reflected her personality lucidly.

She was the shortest of the group, almost as short as Felli was, but unlike Felli, Meishen was so shy she tended to shy away from most things.

Sometimes the 15 year old wondered if Naruki's motherly attitude was deeply rooted to this fact, as whenever Meishen was about to cry, she would then come very quickly to her rescue.

But then again... Meishen almost always seemed to be on the brink of tears...

Not that Layfon would ever state this openly.

The girl was just too fragile!

"Thanks Meishen." Layfon smiled at the girl.

"Y... You're welcome Layton..." Meishen said, calling him by his nickname (which was also forced onto him, though he'd grown rather used to it at this point).

"Hey, Meishi~" Mifi said in a sing-song voice, "I thought you wanted to give Layton something."

"Ah-! Y-Yes!" Meishen said, then lifted the box up with both arms, speaking very quickly as she held it out to him, "I-I made some lunch for everyone!"

A sweatdrop formed on Layfon's head, but he smiled nonetheless.

"Well, thanks Meishen. Your cooking always was great." Layfon commented, taking the lunch in his hand.

Meishen looked up quickly, and her face seemed rather red in that moment, "Th-Thanks Layton..." Her face went redder as she spoke the next part of her sentence, "...But... I'd like you to try it first."

Of course, the amount of density Layfon had when it came to the look on the girl's face was unparalleled with all other forces in the world, and as such, he never noticed the blush.

"Really? Are you sure?"

Meishen nodded silently.

He opened the lunch up, looking inside to see sandwhiches.

He pulled one out, and without even looking at what was inside, took a bite.

His eyes widened at the taste, and he stopped chewing for a moment.

"Uh... Layton...?"

He swallowed, then looked at the sandwhich, "This is the best thing I've ever tasted in my life..." He looked back up at her, "You've outdone yourself Meishen. I expect nothing less of the next great chef."

He was exxagerating it a bit, of course.

Meishen's cooking was always great.

He was only half joking at the same time however.

"Y-You really think so?" Meishen's eyes widened.

"Of course I do." Layfon smiled, "But like I said, I'm not too surprised. You always were an incredibly skilled person when it came to making food after all."

Her face became so hot in the next split second it looked like a tomato that was just being cooked, to the point that it emitted steam, only it had eyes and hair.

"...You... You could have some more... if you wouldn't mind..."

"Thanks. But I have to share. You guys want some too, don't you?" Layfon looked at the other two in the group, who had been watching the conversation.

They looked as though they'd been taken out of a slight trance however.

But still, "No thanks, we ate on the way here!" Mifi said, waving her hand back and forth as she shook her head no.

"Yeah, it was pretty good too." Naruki backed her shorter friend.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we're sure." They said in unison.

Layfon blinked at this, then chuckled slightly, "Guess it's just you and me, huh Meishen?" He lifted the lunch up for emphasis.

She shook her head silently, "I... I'm full too..."

Layfon didn't respond for a moment, wondering why she'd said that the lunch was for everyone when they'd all had just eaten.

He decided not to call her out on it in the end though.

"Well, thanks." Layfon said, then looking down at the lunch.

"What's wrong?" Naruki said, seeing the way he was looking down at it.

"I'd like to eat it now, but... it just isn't good manners to eat in front of others." Layfon explained himself.

"Don't worry about it. You eat. I'll be going to get some water from the water fountain." Naruki got up, walking off in one direction.

"I'll be off to the bathroom. See ya!" Mifi hopped up, then walked away as well in the opposite direction.

Meishen looked at the back of both of their heads as they went, hands going up in a way that implied that she didn't want to be left alone, gaze whipping back and forth, her expression helpless almost.

Layfon looked at this, and he sighed, "Meishen..."

"Y-Yes Layton?" Meishen seemed to sit up much straighter than before.

"You really see those two as your best friends, don't you?" Layfon glanced to his left, watching Mifi going into the hallway, it being dusk outside at that point, only lights from around them filling the room with light now.

"...Of course..." Meishen looked down at her knees, hands on each respective one, clenching into fists as she tried to gather whatever courage was within her.

Which didn't amount to much.

"I'm glad that you feel that way towards them." Layfon turned his head back to her, eyes closed, head bowed slightly as he smiled somewhat sadly.

"Ah... w... what's wrong Layton?"

"I guess I've found something else I envy you for." Layfon admitted, reopening his golden eyes, "The bond you guys share... no one could ever break it. I'm willing to bet that you guys would forgive each other so easily if you ever fought." Layfon looked back down slightly at his hand.

"What do you mean?" Meishen said, shyness seemingly beaten down by her surprise.

"I'm just saying that... well, I had a lot of friends back at the orphanage in Glendan, but when they found out I was exiled and why, they all saw me for what I was back then. As a Military Artist, and a Heaven's Blade, we were never regarded in the same way as normal people, so... well, when I was finally exiled, all of my friends simply started calling me a traitor. So that's why I'm saying that... I envy that bond you guys share..."

Meishen looked at him, then looked down, her hair covering her expression, as she raised a hand up.

And then she hit Layfon on his head.

The hit was light, but Layfon still looked in surprise at her actions nonetheless.

Meishen finally looked up at him, and she gave him a look that was definitely teared up, but also having a would be glare behind it.

"You idiot..."

"Meishen..."

"Layton... you... you don't have to envy us. We... we'll always be friends, no matter what happens..." She looked down again.

Layfon looked, then sighed, "Sorry about that. I guess I am kind of dense, aren't I - !" He suddenly jumped in surprise when Meishen hugged him tightly, truly taken aback when she'd jumped at him out of nowhere.

"Don't... Don't say that about yourself." Meishen said, face reddening up again, "You're a great friend, and such a great person... don't ever forget that Layton..."

Layfon looked at her, then smiled once again, hugging her back, "Alright Meishen. It won't happen again."

They stood like this for a long time, until finally Meishen pulled away from him, and she smiled down at him, holding his shoulders, "I hope that you can get out soon Layfon. Friends are supposed to spend time together, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they should. I'm a fast healer though... I think we'll get some time with each other soon." Layfon smiled back up at her, only to look down at his lap, eyes widening when he saw the lunch box was falling off of his lap.

Meishen saw it too, and they both reached out to catch it at exactly the same.

However, Layfon had lifted his leg up slightly by accident, and Meishen roughly fell over in her attempt to grab at the lunch box.

As he quickly noticed this, Layfon very quickly reached out and around her, barely wrapping his arm around her stomach, catching her in her fall.

"Are you okay Meishen?" Layfon said down to her.

"Y-Yeah. I... I'm fine..." Meishen looked down at her lunch box, and she suddenly had tears in her eyes again.

The food inside had all fallen over and onto the ground.

In truth, the lunch itself was all for Layfon to eat, but she was just too nervous to say it honestly a few minutes beforehand.

But now it was ruined...

"Sorry about that Meishen..." Layfon pulled her back up, hugging her lightly from behind after sitting her down on him, "How about we try to work together to make lunch again some other time?" Layfon asked, again oblivious to the look on Meishen's face.

It was sad really.

The guy was never a romantic, and him sitting her on his lap and hugging her was only an act of friendship, but...

Meishen's face put the sun's to shame in that one moment.

"Y... Y... _Yes_..." She said, her "yes" being very drawn out as she was on the brink of fainting, there being way too much blood in her head.

"It was pretty fun to do it last time, so I'm sure that it'll be fun this time around too." Layfon smiled even more.

Meishen hesitated on what she was about to do, but saw that since he didn't seem to think much of their position anyways, decided to take advantage of this, leaning lightly against him and closing her eyes.

"I think so too Layton..." She said, voice barely above a whisper.

Neither she nor Layfon were faced the right way to see the brown haired girl sneaking her way behind them and making her way to Naruki's side as she looked at them.

When she reached the taller girl's side, they immediately began to whisper among themselves.

"Do you think she finally sealed the deal?" Mifi looked back at the duo, smile mischievous as she did this.

"I think so. Maybe doing this has made her grow a bit bolder in a way... at least when she's alone with him."

Neither one had known a single thing that Meishen and Layfon said to each other.

They were only judging the situation based on their actions.

"At least she almost got a kiss out of it last time she did it." Mifi said, only to see the three girls walking up to them, expression going stiff rather quickly, "Oh sh..."

Layfon looked to his side, and he immediately greeted the one he recognized, "Hey there Felli." He called out to her.

Meishen's eyes whipped open at the sound of the girl's name, and when she looked, her face suddenly became pale.

"I see how it is now." A long wavy blonde haired girl with blue eyes said, smiling smugly, "I guess you're a lady's man after all."

"Huh?" Layfon looked at the girl, "Who are you?"

"I'm Yang." She pointed a thumb at herself, "But I don't think it's a good thing to cheat on someone when you're dating."

Layfon blinked, "Cheating? How?"

"Oh your little girlfriend here says that you're hers." She pointed at Felli, who for the first time since arriving, took her eyes off of Layfon and onto her, the other black haired girl looking at her as well.

"I never said that I was his-" Felli began, only for Yang to cut her off.

"Don't lie. I can see how you feel about him, especially since you guys slept with each other."

"Uh... Yang..." The other looked at her, her expression that of someone who was bracing themselves for the worst.

Meishen very quietly slipped off of Layfon's lap, looking back at him momentarily, Layfon responding in kind, and the boy could see her eyes were rather teary again.

"I'll... I'll see you later Layton!" Meishen walked away quickly, right in the direction Naruki had gone in beforehand.

Layfon watched her go, then looked back towards the other three who had come.

"Come on sis, you said yourself they looked cute together." Yang looked at Layfon, smiling, hands on her hips, "But I bet Felli here is the jealous type."

"I told you, it isn't like that." Felli's body language would probably reveal that she was attempting to yell.

Sadly, her abilities forced her to be unable to do this.

"Don't try to hide it. Go." Yang pushed Felli forward roughly with one hand, and she went into the side of Layfon's wheelchair, "Tell him how you feel. You want him to be yours, don't you?"

"That isn't true." Felli looked at her, then back to Layfon, "We were just sleeping together in the same bed, that's all..."

"Oh, so you don't mind him flirting with other girls?"

Felli pushed herself off the chair, then looked at her, "No, I don't."

"Okay then." Yang walked up to Layfon, standing to his other side and taking his chin and wrapping it around her finger, lifting it up, "I guess I can have my way with you after all."

Layfon blinked, and for the hundredth time that day, said, "Huh?"

"Come on, I bet you'd like having a girlfriend like me."

At these words, Layfon heard a very breif "whoosh" like sound, like something a whip would make when spun too quickly, before something very heavy slammed into his ankle.

He didn't respond for a split second, then jumped so violently in pain that he fell back on his chair, hitting his head harshly on the ground.

He groaned out loudly, before he heard the sounds of heels walking to his side.

He glanced up, seeing Felli walking up to him, the pink aura around her body fierce as she walked up to him.

Oh sh - !

Layfon pumped kei into his body very quickly, using it to hop back up onto his feet, jumping over his wheelchair and sprinting away as fast as his legs could carry him, the limp he had very evident.

He didn't care that he was injured - Layfon remembered the last time Felli was so angry her entire body glowed to that extent.

Her older brother wouldn't be able to do anything at all for the next month before his whole body recovered fully.

He ran quickly around nurses and doctors who were all bustling about, and when Layfon reached the stairwell, he stopped shortly to catch his breath, holding onto the railing.

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and as he glanced in that direction, he paled when he saw it was a sakura petal.

He looked at the stairwell again, then concentrated his kei.

External Type Kei - Flash!

He blasted off the ground, like a literal flash of light, then starting bouncing up the stairs via the walls, soon reaching his floor and stopping.

He only took a split second to catch his breath however, then sprinting all the way to his room, going inside and grabbing his dite from inside the box he still had it in.

"Restoration." He breathed out, and in a split second, the dite turned into his kitana.

He turned quickly around in fear when he heard the sound of footsteps coming into the doorway, relaxing somewhat when he saw who it was.

"It's you..."

"You're pretty fast." The girl responded, breathing slightly harder than before, but looking at his kitana then, "Is that your weapon?" She said, walking next to him, looking down at it as his sword.

"Uh, yeah, it is." Layfon said, a bit taken aback by how she was looking at it.

"But don't you have a sheath for it?" She looked up at him in question.

"Sheath?"

"You know, something to hold it for you." She tilted her head slightly.

"Well... no, I don't think so. I don't really need a sheath for a dite." To demonstrate, he made the kitana return to its original rectangular prism form.

Her eyes widened at that, then she looked as though she'd just seen a very impossible miracle happen before her eyes, "Woah, that's so cool! How did you do that?!"

"Huh? It's a dite. I think it's pretty self explanatory..."

"What's a dite?" She asked him.

Layfon blinked in surprise. Then he realized what the case was.

They _were _in an unfamiliar environment after all.

So maybe it was possible that they never were introduced with the prospect of dites...?

"Restoration." His dite became a kitana again, and Layfon lifted it up, so that they could both see it, "This is a dite, which is a weapon that can be condensed into another form, usually but not always into a rectuangular prism like shape, so that people don't have to carry them around with as much difficulty as one might usually have."

The girl could've had literal stars in her eyes at that explanation and Layfon would never be able to tell the difference.

"That's freaking awesome!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Layfon jumped at how suddenly she responded, but then noticed the flower petal that was floating near him.

It changed to what looked akin to a compass rose before it shot into his back like an arrow, him arching his back before falling limply back onto the bed, breathing quick rapid breaths.

"She got me..." Was all he said before he lost consciousness.

Ruby looked at the flower petal in surprise, "What the heck...?"

_"Thank you for stalling this idiot for me."_ Felli's voice resounded in the petal.

Ruby blinked at that, "Huh? Is that... you Felli?"

_"Yes, using my Nene I was able to track him down here. I wouldn't have found him if you hadn't however."_

""Nene"? You mean "nanny"?" Ruby said, thinking Felli had mispronounced the word she gave.

"No, not "nanny", "Nene". There's a huge difference between them."

As Ruby gained the explanation Felli gave, though she was known to make that type of mistake, even Ruby was an exception to ridicule at that point.

After hearing the full on explanation as to what Nene and Nene Operators (or Psychokinetics as some also called them) were, Ruby couldn't help wondering how her friend, Weiss Schnee, would react to what she thought Felli meant.

She'd usually say she was something of a dunce for it, but right now, if Weiss were in Ruby's shoes, Ruby couldn't help but feel as though she'd feel the exact same way.

"Is he going to be alright?" She asked her via the flower petal, leaning down over Layfon's unmoving body.

_"He'll be fine. He's been through much worse before."_

"You must really like the guy." Ruby crossed her arms, and she looked at the flower petal.

As though it were responding to Felli's actions, the petal itself moved back, and Ruby could imagine the girl taking a step back as though in surprise, _"No, it isn't like that."_

"Really? Okay. It just seemed like that the way you responded to him hugging another girl."

_"He's proven to be a bit of a lecher in some ways."_

"I kind of doubt that. The guy's as timid as Jaune." Ruby looked to the other side, seeing a still asleep Jaune, uncrossing her arms and letting them hang down to her sides.

_"He's probably more idiotic than he is."_

"Isn't that taking it a bit far?" Ruby turned to the petal again.

_"Is it? He's done some things that are severely bad for his safety. Besides that, he is usually pretty dense about how others feel about him."_

"So you admit that you like him after all?"

_"No, I'm not."_ Felli's voice was impossible to read (though that wasn't anything new), _"I'm just saying that he does things that makes others jealous of his skills... even in terms of cooking..."_

Ruby stared at that.

"...okay...?" She looked at Layfon, then picked his legs up, dragging them back onto the bed.

"You rest up. You've pushed yourself a bit too far." She instructed to the boy, though he was still asleep, then walked out, the petal following suit.

* * *

Haia walked on the rooftops of the buildings in the city, pumping kei into his leg whenever he had to jump through the air and over the street.

This had gone on for several hours, yet he didn't find himself ever getting bored of it.

He particularly enjoyed jumping over the streets, even if he had trouble breathing at those times.

It was just the feeling of being able to walk freely outside of a Regios without having to wear any protective equipment whatsoever was still a novelty to him, especially with the full moon and stars hanging over his head.

It was like being a bird stuck in a cage for all of its life that yearned to be free, and when the time finally came, it spread its wings and flew towards the sun.

He stopped after another hour though, glancing to his side as he saw a blue flower petal next to him.

_"Haia." _A voice so robotic that many wouldn't feel much surprise if it were in fact an actual robot spoke to him, and at his name, Haia turned to the petal.

"Hey there Fellmouse." He responded, smiling at it.

_"Myuunfa was looking everywhere for you after you suddenly disappeared."_

Haia chuckled somewhat, "Yeah, that sounds like her." He responded, hands on the back of his head.

Myuunfa Rufa was a blonde haired, bespectacled green eyed girl that was the same age as he was, who was an incredible shot with a bow and arrow.

She and Haia were childhood friends, but this didn't change how shy she was toward him and everyone else.

It was a truly indiscriminate trait about her.

She was often very protective of him though, despite that.

"Did you tell her I was going to check on Layfon?"

_"Yes, and she stormed out as soon as those words left my mouth."_

Haia cringed slightly at that.

So she still thought he wanted to try and surpass Layfon, huh?

"Well, that's going to suck when she finds me."

_"I just wanted to give you a warning ahead of time."_

"Thanks, bub." He said, then whipped his head to his side when he heard the violent crash on the ground.

An explosion that was a long ways away from him shook his balance, and Haia stared in that direction, it being near the waters, dangerously close to the Regios that were still there.

"What the hell...?"

_"Do you want me to check into it?"_

"Yeah, do it Fellmouse." He watched as the petal flew away from him at a speed that was very great, and Haia didn't have to wait more than a moment before another came to his side.

_"You may want to come quickly Haia."_

"What's the problem?"

_"There are people attempting to steal the Serenium mines."_

He took a second to let this sink in, then narrowed his eyes, "Alright, I'll do it. Try getting some people to come help me. There's no telling if I'll need it or not."

_"Understood."_ Fellmouse's Nene flew away from him.

Haia concentrated his kei.

Internal Type Kei - Whirlwind.

A green circle appeared around him, and he pushed himself forward, flying towards the explosion site very quickly, hopping through the rooftops with a large amount of speed.

When he reached there, he stopped at the edge of a corner of a building's rooftop, and he saw many people in black clothing with white vests trying to help take a Serenium mine from a boat.

"No you don't..." Haia flew at the closest ones, restoring his dite.

As he landed, Haia concentrated his kei, then released the attack.

External Type Kei - Flame Cut!

Flames covered his kitana, and he slashed horizontally through the air.

A wave of fire came out, and as it hit home, the men that got hit were all blown forward.

Very quickly at their comrades yells, the remaining ones looked back from the docks.

He smirked, then concentrated again.

External Type Kei - Fleeting Shadow.

As he ran forward, Haia knew the clones were surrounding him, and without even looking, he ordered them all to attack them.

Several yells came from behind him as he ran forward and onto the wooden part of the docks.

He didn't have much difficulty fighting the men who were in the direction of the Serenium mine, simply using his family attack to take care of them (a Psyharden attack called "Rot").

When Haia used said attack, every opponent he passed simply had the weapons in their hands become destroyed in a split second, them being unable to defend themselves when he used a diagonal slash or stabbed them in different parts of the body (depended on their position on the docks, the former if they were at the edge of the docks and the latter if they were in the middle of it).

But when he finally reached the end of the dock, Haia skidded to a stop, for the part of the dock in front of him suddenly blew up into the air and above his head.

He jumped back when he heard the water underneath him moving in an unnatural way, and just as he did, the same thing happened again, this time Haia seeing that water seemed to shoot up roughly, destroying boards in the process.

He jumped up when the same thing happened to him again, and before he could do anything, two large water tendrils shot up from the sea and at him.

He couldn't react in time, and instead got hit on both sides, the water slamming into his body.

He closed his eyes to keep the water out, but then to his surprise felt the water begin to freeze him to the bone.

He opened his eyes with some difficulty, and he realized then that he was encased in ice.

He couldn't move at all.

He tried to look through the ice, but couldn't after a moment, it all being a pale ice blue.

He mentally scowled.

External Type Kei - Flame Cut.

Flames burst from his blade, and the ice melted instantly, before the effect spread to the rest of his arm.

Now able to move his arm, he pumped a much larger amount of kei into his kitana, doing the same attack again, cutting through the ice, a large amount of his body now free but still encased in a ball of ice.

At this, Haia did another attack.

External Type Kei - Flame Snake!

Snakes made of flames surrounded his now drenched body, and they all ate away at the ice, melting it as Haia repeatedly used the same attack, until one reached a point where he could burst through.

When Haia realized this, he concentrated.

External Type Kei - Whirlwind!

He blasted forward with a grunt, wrapping his two hands tightly around the hilt of his weapon, bringing it to left side as the sword pointed at the place he was aiming for, stabbing into the ice and breaking through.

He was still flying for several more meters, and he landed on the docks with more stable boards set up.

As he looked around himself, he saw a man with bluish purple hair looking at him from in front of the large boat that now held the Serenium mine.

Haia brought up his kitana, him put on guard at the smile he was sending his way, "Were you the one who trapped me in that ball of ice bub?" He yelled at him, scowling.

"That's surprising, you were actually able to break my attack." He said, half lidding his eyes as he placed a hand on his hip.

"Why the hell are you guys trying to steal the Serenium mines?" Haia yelled.

"That doesn't concern you. I'll consider letting you go if you just turn around now."

Haia's response was to let fire burst all over his kitana.

"I guess your answer is no." He smiled, "Pity. I don't want to waste my time on others. I don't want to keep "her" waiting after all."

Haia narrowed his eyes, then leaned back slightly.

External Type Kei - Whirlwind.

He blasted off at the man with incredible speed, but in response, the man lifted a hand up, water bursting through the boards again.

Haia got caught up in the attack this time, and got blown up the sky.

As his body was forcefully pushed back up into the sky, Haia tried quickly to regain his bearings, looking down and seeing the tendrils shooting up at him again.

He regained his scowl, "Not again you won't." He pumped kei outwardly from his body, and flew past the tendrils, them colliding with each other.

He roared as he increased his kei output ten fold, body shooting at the man, bringing his kitana back behind him.

Yet just when he was a foot away from being able to hit him, Haia got another burst of water under his feet, blowing him up yet again.

But he only got up a few feet in the air before another wave of water hit him, ramming him into the side of the boat.

He cursed at this, then quickly attempted to use his flame-based kei attacks to break free of the ice when the water froze up.

When he did this, Haia finally got close to the blue-purplish haired man, slashing at his head, to which he seemed to dodge with ease, studying him out loud, "Your semblance must be fire, just like "her"'s. You don't seem to be very fond of using that however." He said, moving out of the way every time Haia tried to attack him.

Yet when Haia attempted to use one of his clones as a decoy, the man very quickly made short work of both of them, blasting the clone into the ocean with a massive water tendril and still dodging Haia's kitana somehow, the stab motion he had making his sword go into the water, the man freezing the water at that moment and making Haia's weapon get stuck in a case of ice, the water swiftly coming over his hand as well.

"You don't seem to do well without your weapon, eh?" He leaned in close to Haia, only for an arrow of blue light to suddenly hit the ball, shattering the ice instantaneously.

Haia didn't have any qualms of taking advantage of their closeness, putting his want to thank Myuunfa to the recesses of his mind.

He grunted, then slashed at him quickly, Haia finally getting a hit on him.

Though the attack was light, he still stumbled back.

"I let my guard down too easily I suppose...!" Both he and Haia moved out of the way as something starting shooting down at them, Haia seeing a curly haired blonde girl leaping down from the air while punching into it, miniature rockets seeming to come out of the golden gauntlets that went up to her elbows.

He had jumped back to another wooden walkway in the dock, and saw the girl look at the man while getting into a position that suggested she was going to be in a fist fight in spite of the great amount of distance she had from him.

"So it seems that you're here as well." He stood up straight, purple eyes looking in interest.

"Just tell me where she is." She yelled at him.

"She'll request an audience with you in due time. Until then I suppose." He started walking towards the edge of the heavily damaged boardwalk he was on.

She scowled, then punched through the air, another miniature rocket being shot at him.

He dodged it with a small jump back, the explosion that resulted blowing his hair back slightly.

Haia concentrated his kei then, lunging at him.

External Type Kei - Whirlwind!

His kei burst out of his body, and he flew right at the man, bringing his sword to his right side, then thrusting it around as hard as possible, only for his blade to be caught in something other than his intended target.

And it came in the form of a rock.

"What the hell - !" Haia suddenly got hit in the face by another rock, and he fell back on the boards, grabbing at the rock and throwing it away with all his strength.

The man was looking up over himself, "I didn't think you'd be coming Turquoise."

"I didn't have much choice Gray." Turquoise hopped down from the top of the Serenium mine, right next to Gray.

"Your mission was to retrieve the girl. I don't think it was a very good idea to attract that kind of attention to yourself if you can't even finish the mission, especially with that explosion you caused."

"Are you in any place to say that to me? Which one of us was being cornered before now?"

"You have a point. Let's just hope "she's" a bit more understanding than usual."

"Hey bub, we aren't through yet!" Haia roared.

Police sirens filled the air behind them.

"I don't have any more time to play with you, even if it was fun in the end." Gray lowered his hand, closed it into a fist quickly, then whipped it back up.

A geiser blasted them both up into the air, and they both landed on top of the mine, Gray closing his eyes as though in concentration.

The girl started blasting her rockets again, and as they launched themselves at the duo, Turquoise simply lifted her hand, a rock coming up and hitting the rocket before it could reach them.

It blew up into several pieces, yet still reformed itself into a cluster, hitting all of the other rockets sent their way.

"Damn it..." She cursed, throwing her hands to her sides as bullet ends burst out of her gauntlets.

Gray had taken that time to concentrate, and he thrust his hand forward, the boat being pushed roughly forward and away from them.

Haia concentrated.

External Type Kei - Flame Snake!

Snakes of flames shot out of his sword as he cut it through the air, yet as they neared the boat, Gray lifted his hand, water tendrils hitting them all and the flames dissipating instantly.

Haia cursed, then concentrated again.

External Type Kei - Whirlwind!

"Hey, get on my back, you can help me get them." Without a word of response, the blonde got on his back, and Haia increased his kei output, before kicking out the ground, the girl's arm wrapped around his neck.

As they flew over them, Gray took notice of them, and Turquoise seemed to read his mind, the rocks she had in her control going onto the back of the boat and pushing it for him.

Gray moved his hands, water tendrils shooting up at them.

Haia moved sharply to his right, having to spin in the air somewhat to keep the same speed (though there was a yell of distress coming from the girl he carried on his back due to this), only to have to move to his left to avoid another.

The girl used her free hand, starting to launch her rockets down at them with several grunts.

Gray lifted his hands up at this, and a wall of ice blocked all of the rockets.

She cursed from over him, and Haia heard the sound of crackling behind him.

Daring to glance back, his eyes widened when he saw that another ball of ice was forming.

From behind his wall of ice, Gray clenched his raised hand into a fist, pulling it back harshly.

Responding to his command, ice shards shot out in a cascade at them, and Haia spun around while in the air.

"External Type Kei - Flame Cut!" He charged a large amount of kei into his kitana, and the flame cut through all of the ice shards before it could rain on them.

Then the girl grabbed both of his shoulders, bringing her feet up and using his back as a catapult, launching herself at the ice wall that Gray had formed.

She launched rockets behind herself and into the air to gain speed, and when she reached the wall, she grunted, then punched the wall with all her might.

The wall burst, and she could see the two people for a moment.

Only to find herself get kicked in the face.

She yelled out as she got kicked back into the ocean, eyes clenched tightly, but opening them slightly, thrusting one last desperate rocket at her enemy.

Turquoise responded by throwing up a hand, a rock coming in the way of the rocket.

She watched helplessly as this happened, only for her hand to be suddenly grasped, Haia yanking her through the air, "Come on, we haven't lost them yet!" He yelled, only to see Gray's motions while on the boat.

He lowered his hand, and then lifted it back up.

At that moment, Haia's face got blasted up by a geiser, his body and the girl's getting caught up in it as well.

They were thrust up into the air, and both were unable to do anything, bearings everywhere, falling head first into the dam.

Immediately, Haia pushed his head up, spitting salt water out of his mouth.

As he looked around, he finally saw the boat, and he scowled when he realized it was much too far away now.

He turned to the girl, seeing her doing the same, her hair now straightened by the water.

"Hey, are you okay?" He called out to her.

She muttered something under her breath.

"What?"

"My hair..." She said, hair now covering her face, "My hair's been ruined..."

Haia felt himself pale slightly.

He knew the consequences of a person messing with just about any girl's hair...

As expected (well, not really), a burst of flame came from her head, blue eyes now turned red.

"Those bastards are gonna pay!" She roared out, and Haia had to try to hold her back while still keeping his head aloft when she tried to chase after the boat.

Why did all girls have to go freaking _ballistic _when it came to their hair?

After she finally calmed down, Haia and the girl, who had introduced herself as Yang, were both walking back onto the docks, blankets wrapped around them.

As they went, Yang walked towards the car that had been severely damaged, a girl being the only thing the cops had been able to pull out of it so far.

Haia walked behind her, and Yang looked over the girl, eyes going slightly wide when she realized who it was.

"Penny?" Yang asked, leaning down, "Is that you?"

Her eyes opened, and her freckled face smiled, "Hi there Yang. Is this a friend of yours?" She looked at Haia.

Yet Haia was staring at her with an utmost look of surprise.

He walked closer to her, kneeling down, and he leaned in, studying her face.

"Is that you?" Haia asked, eyes disbelieving, "...sis...?"


End file.
